Rothy’s has hired Heather Archibald as its first chief product & merchandising officer and Jamie Gersch as chief marketing officer as the brand enters its next phase of growth.
Archibald joins the San Francisco-based company with over 20 years of experience building global product and merchandising strategies at brands like Title Nine, Restoration Hardware and Gap, Inc. Overseeing Rothy’s merchandising, design, inventory planning and allocation departments, Archibald will work to grow the company’s global product development and commercialization strategies.
“As a lifelong merchant who is customer and product-obsessed, joining a nimble and vertically-integrated business is a dream,” Archibald said in a statement. “I can’t wait to dig into the brand’s broad product potential and fast pipeline, flexing the design muscle that Rothy’s has leveraged since the very beginning.”
Heather Archibald CREDIT: Rothy’s
As for Gersch, she joins the brand after 20 years with Gap, Inc. She most recently served as SVP and chief marketing officer at Old Navy, where she oversaw global marketing. As Rothy’s new chief marketing officer, Gersch will oversee global brand marketing and e-commerce strategies, the company said.
In a statement, Gersch said she was “thrilled” to join a company with such an “extraordinarily passionate” following. “I look forward to continuing to build the brand, expand its reach and deepen the connection to our customers through not only our product, but also our purpose,” she said.
Jamie Gersch CREDIT: Rothy’s
In addition to these appointments, Rothy’s has made two additional executive leadership moves.
Dayna Quanbeck, Rothy’s CFO, will also take on the title of COO in a further expanded role overseeing the deployment of growth capital. As COO, Quanbeck will manage critical growth areas including retail, international expansion and global strategy in addition to managing Rothy’s finance, data analytics and technology divisions as the global business scales.
Additionally, Heather Howard is moving to the newly formed chief supply chain officer role. In this position, Howard will navigate the increasing complexities of the global supply chain while advancing the unique opportunities that owning a factory presents, the company added.
Dayna Quanbeck and Heather Howard. CREDIT: Rothy’s
These executive changes come nearly a year after Rothy’s nabbed a strategic investment from Havaianas owner Alpargatas S.A. In a two-step transaction, Alpargatas invested $200 million in primary capital followed by an offering to acquire approximately $275 million of Rothy’s shares from current stockholders, resulting in a post-investment valuation of $1 billion.
“With a strategic partner in Alpargatas, our global growth opportunity has never been more promising,” Stephen Hawthornthwaite, CEO and chairman of Rothy’s said in a statement on Wednesday. “As our product and brand continue to gain momentum, Heather and Jamie round out our highly experienced leadership team poised to deliver on our growth objectives.”