Alexis DePree has been promoted to chief operating officer of Nordstrom Inc., taking a position that’s been vacant for two years.
Ken Worzel held the role until 2022, at which point he transitioned to his current role as Nordstrom Inc. chief customer officer.
“Alexis will continue to support supply chain operations, transportation, inventory operations, enterprise operations and store operations, now with an expanded title that better reflects the breadth of the work these teams are doing,” Nordstrom said in a statement.
She reports to Pete Nordstrom, president and chief brand officer.
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A spokeswoman told WWD, “Since assuming the role of chief supply chain officer in 2020, Alexis’s responsibilities have expanded to include inventory operations, enterprise operations and store operations in addition to supply chain operations.”
In its statement, the company added, “With Alexis’s support, our teams have made meaningful progress in several different areas: we’ve strengthened our supply chain network, dramatically improved our speed to customer and reduced costs. We continue to make progress implementing RFID technology and creating operational consistency across our stores. As we focus on improving operational efficiency across the business, Alexis and her team will continue to be integral to our success.”
DePree joined Nordstrom in January 2020 as executive vice president and chief supply chain officer. Before joining Nordstrom, she held senior leadership roles at Amazon and Target.
Nordstrom performed well on the topline last quarter with net sales up 5 percent, and comparable sales up 4 percent. The Nordstrom brand saw comps up 2, and Rack’s comps rose 8 percent.
However, there was some pressure on margins due to operational factors that DePree and her teams will have to address, including theft in the supply chain and missing inventory discovered in distribution centers. In the company’s Q1 conference call last week, executives noted that “swift actions” were taken to help correct the operational issues pressuring profitability and masking the underlying strength in the business.
To lower costs and gain efficiencies in operations that should further improve profitability, Nordstrom is consolidating its San Bernardino, Calif., fulfillment center into its West Coast omni-channel center, its newest, most automated and lowest cost fulfillment center. The consolidation is expected to be completed in the second quarter. It’s scaled to serve both the Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack banners.
