Vera Bradley on Tuesday named Harry Cunningham as head of store development.
Cunningham, who assumes the post on Dec. 8, will be responsible for developing visual and store merchandising designs for Vera Bradley’s company-owned units as well as department stores. He’ll also oversee new store construction and remodels as well as site selection for new Vera Bradley stores.
“As we continue transforming Vera Bradley into a premium global lifestyle brand, store presentation and site selection will become even more critical,” said Robert Wallstrom, chief executive officer of Vera Bradley.
Cunningham since 2006 has worked at Saks Fifth Avenue, most recently as senior vice president of store planning, design and visual merchandising. Prior to that, he held visual merchandising roles at Liz Claiborne, Saks Department Store Group and Dillard’s.
Cunningham was instrumental in the relaunch of Saks’ men’s stores in Beverly Hills and Chicago and in the design of the full line Saks in Sarasota, Fla. He developed Saks’ fashion and holiday windows and worked on the design for the Saks’ Off Fifth outlet division.
Vera Bradley, which estimated 2014 revenues at $536 million, is on a mission to increase brand awareness as it expands its reach in the U.S. and abroad.
The company made a key hire in July, appointing Angel Ilagan executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Ilagan had been cmo at Pandora Jewelry. At the time, Wallstrom said that Vera Bradley historically under invested in marketing.
In April, Vera Bradley strengthened its merchandising and sourcing teams, hiring Rosemary Ricketts, a former Avon executive, as vice president of merchandising, and Steve Bohman, who worked at Radio Shack, Under Armour and J.C. Penney, as vice president of global production.
Vera Bradley stock, which is traded on NASDAQ, closed on Tuesday at $21.66, down 13 cents.