Event Description
Join Mike Edwards along with special guest, Matt Kaness, CEO and Board Advisor at of Goodwillfinds eCommerce, Inc., as they discuss the challenges and changes with customers in the retail marketplace.
Mike Edwards is a strategic retail and eCommerce executive with 35 years of experience leading publicly traded and privately held retailers through major, billion-dollar transformations. Skilled in driving optimization across digital marketing, merchandising, sales and technology, Michael is focused on driving long-range growth that is sustainable, data-driven, and customer-centric.
Tactical and visionary, Michael has repeatedly aided in the sale and repositioning of companies falling victim to slow topline growth, major profit losses, over-leveraged balance sheets, and under-utilization of technology, even amid cybersecurity crises and a global pandemic. He has most recently served as President and CEO of Hanna Andersson an international children’s lifestyle brand and eBags.com online luggage and travel accessories business. Prior executive roles were CMO at Staples, Borders Group CEO, Lucy Activewear CEO, and Jo-Ann Stores COO.
Industry recognized as a transformative business driver, Michael has served on numerous Boards of Directors with organizations: Linc CX, iTerate AI, Central Garden & Pet, Drexel University, Flexsteel Industries, Muttropolis.com, WickQuick.com, the International Council of Shopping Centers, Portland State University, and Igo.com. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Marketing from Drexel University. Over the last decade, he and the organizations under his management have received: the American Heritage Award from the Anti-Defamation League for leadership and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; Brand of the Year (Lucy Activewear) from the International Council of Shopping Centers; Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (Lucy Activewear) from Ernst and Young; and Customer Service Award of the Year (eBags.com) from the Multichannel Merchant.
Matt Kaness is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Board Advisor of Goodwillfinds eCommerce, Inc., as of September 2022 – the social enterprise is comprised of a re-commerce technology platform and secondhand marketplace under license from Goodwill Industries International, Inc.® Previously, he was a member of the US Advisory Board of Afterpay, Ltd., a global technology-driven payments company (and now subsidiary of Block Inc.), from 2018 to 2022. Mr. Kaness served as interim Chief Executive Officer of Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc., a clothing manufacturer and marketer, from September 2019 to August 2020 and as Executive Chairman from January 2020 to August 2020. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of ModCloth, Inc., a fashion e-commerce company, from 2015 to 2017, which was sold to Walmart. From 2017 to 2018, Mr. Kaness was an officer in Walmart’s US e-commerce division. Previously, he was the Chief Strategy Officer at Urban Outfitters, Inc., an international fashion and lifestyle omni-channel retailer. Mr. Kaness holds a BS-Mechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of America and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.
LinkedIn: Mike Edwards, Matt Kaness
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