Shuffle Board: Primark and Printemps Name Chief Executives, While Avalo Taps Former Secretary of Agriculture as Advisor

The latest HR moves made by leading textile and apparel companies.

Brands

Victoria’s Secret

Based on preliminary results from Victoria’s Secret & Co.’s annual shareholder meeting on June 11, shareholders have voted in favor of re-electing all of the board of director nominees.

Despite a proxy contest from BBRC International Pte Limited—which owns 13 percent of the company’s outstanding shares—urging shareholders to vote against independent chair Donna James, James received over 83 percent of votes in her favor and the rest of the board received at least 81 percent support. BBRC voted against James and all the director nominees aside from CEO Hillary Super. Removing BBRC’s votes, the approval ratings were 99 percent for James and 96 percent or more for other board members.

“Today’s outcome is a decisive statement of support for the current board leadership from VS&Co’s shareholders,” said the company in a statement. “It also recognizes the substantial progress, outperformance and value creation delivered under the Path to Potential strategy and reaffirms shareholder confidence in our board’s continued oversight of that strategy.”

Retail

Primark

Fast-fashion retailer Primark has named Eoin Tonge as its chief executive, effective immediately. Tonge had been serving as interim chief executive since March 2025, and he is also a director on the board of Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods, a position he will retain with this new appointment. In his time as interim CEO, he has led customer-centric upgrades around product offerings, value and digital and marketing touchpoints.  

“Over the past year he has demonstrated the leadership, judgement and consumer insight needed to enable Primark to capture the significant opportunities ahead,” said George Weston, chief executive of Associated British Foods, about Tonge. “The changes he is implementing are at an early stage but are already having a tangible benefit in a challenging environment.”

Tonge was previously at ABF, where he was most recently group finance director. His resume also includes Marks and Spencer as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer, as well as strategic and financial roles at Greencore Group.

Primark is also creating a new chief commercial officer role, with Filip Ekvall stepping into the position on Sept. 1. A former H&M executive, Ekvall will oversee product, retail, digital and customer operations and will report to Tonge.

Printemps

Retail group Printemps has appointed Rémy Baume as its new CEO.

Baume was previously CEO at Zadig & Voltaire, and his more than 20-year career has included roles at Carrefour and LVMH.

“Rémy’s career path demonstrates his ability to combine strategic vision with operational excellence in a highly competitive environment,” said the group’s supervisory board in a statement. “Coupled with his in-depth understanding of transformation, retail and branding, this makes him a major asset in securing sustainable growth for Printemps.”

This appointment comes on the heels of Printemps’ announcement of its new chief financial and administrative officer Antony Rodrigues in late May.  

Manufacturing

National Safety Apparel

Personal protective equipment and safety gear manufacturer National Safety Apparel’s CEO Chuck Grossman Jr. is passing the CEO torch to Michael Enright and moving into the role of vice chairman after 30 years at the helm.

Enright was the planned successor for Grossman, and has been president of the company for the last five years. He has more than 30 years of experience in the protective apparel sector.

Surewerx

Surewerx, which manufactures protective and safety clothing like work boots and hi-vis apparel, has appointed Shawn Gregg chief operating officer. Gregg, who starts June 15, will focus on commercial operations and brand performance. He comes to Surewerx with over three decades of experience, including roles at Wesco International and 3M.

Schotex

Hong Kong-based technical fabric supplier Schotex Global has named Jennifer Ryan head of sales for North America, overseeing sales and business development in the region. Ryan, who starts immediately, comes to Schotex with more than 35 years of experience in fashion and outdoor textiles, including two decades at Schoeller Textil and roles at PrimaLoft and Feinjersey Group.

Technology

Avalo

Agriculture technology firm Avalo and its investor-director Germin8 Ventures have appointed Mike Johanns as a strategic advisor.

Johanns was the secretary of agriculture from 2005 to 2007 during the George W. Bush administration. Agriculture has been part of Johanns life from an early age; he grew up on a dairy farm in Iowa. After practicing law, he entered public service, and he spent more than three decades in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government, including as a U.S. senator from Nebraska from 2009 to 2015.

Additionally, Johanns has sat on the boards for Corteva and John Deere, and he is currently on the board of OSI Group.

“Few people have fought for farmers as long or as hard as Mike,” said Avalo CEO and co-founder Brendan Collins. “He started on his family’s farm and carried it all the way to the governor’s office, the Senate, the cabinet and the biggest agricultural companies in the world. He sees the entire system at once, from the dirt to the policy to the boardroom. I don’t think there’s another living soul with that perspective, and we are lucky to have it.”

Johanns is coming into Avalo as the company gears up to bring its low-carbon cotton to the market and as it starts sugarcane pilots.

“Avalo is doing something I’ve waited a long time to see in agriculture: using cutting-edge science to deliver real, practical wins for farmers without asking them to compromise on what works,” said Johanns. “Their natural, AI-driven approach to breeding more resilient crops is exactly the kind of innovation our farmers, our supply chains and our rural communities need.”

Project44

Supply chain management platform Project44 continues to bolster its engineering and AI teams with the appointment of Vinay Mathur as chief technology officer. Mathur will oversee the engineering, artificial intelligence implementation and structure of the company’s platform, while also take the lead on Project44’s AI agent portfolio.

Mathur was most recently at Stripe as head of product engineering, and he has worked on platforms for SAP Ariba, GEP Worldwide and Oracle.

He joins Project44 as the company is at a “technical inflection point” of transitioning AI agents from pilots into wider practice. “Project44 has solved the hardest part of the AI puzzle. It has built the data, the network and the context that turn AI from a demo into a system supply chain leaders can run on,” Mathur said. “I joined to help scale that platform and bring its AI agents into the daily operations of every shipper and logistics provider that depends on confident, real-time decisions.”

DecisionPoint Technologies

Mobile and supply chain technology firm DecisionPoint Technologies has promoted Brian Bukowski to CEO and president. In his new role, Bukowski, who was most recently president and chief revenue officer, will lead the company’s expansion and growth.

Bukowski’s more than three decades of experience includes prior roles at Motorola, Stratix and Riverbed. He succeeds Ross Young, who led the company through the January 2025 merger between Barcoding, Inc. and DecisionPoint Systems, forming what is now DecisionPoint Technologies. Young will remain involved in a new capacity as he moves into an advisory role with Graham Partners, the private equity firm that invested in Barcoding, Inc.

Logistics

ODW Logistics

ODW Logistics has made two appointments to support growth and innovation.

The third-party logistics firm named Paul Boothe chief commercial officer, heading up sales, marketing and solutions development. He comes to ODW from RXO, where he was president of last mile, managed transportation and dedicated transportation, and he has prior experience at XPO Logistics. He succeeds Jeff Clark, who is moving into the role of vice president of sales at ODW.

Brian Parsons has been promoted from vice president of information technology to chief information officer. In this new role, he will work on modernizing the company’s technology platforms and enhancing its data and artificial intelligence capabilities. ODW’s previous chief technology officer Michael Roberts is becoming an executive advisor ahead of his retirement in January 2027.