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Queen of the May

Retail veteran Carol Williams named president of May Department Stores International

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Carol Williams, formerly president and ceo of Jacobson Stores Inc. (Jackson, Mich.), has been named president of May Department Stores International, a new position established to lead the St. Louis-based department store retailer's proprietary product development initiatives.

Her appointment is effective immediately, and she reports to Jay Levitt, president and ceo of May Merchandising Company/May Department Stores International. (MDSI is May's product development and global sourcing organization.)

In this new position, Williams is responsible for leading the creation of distinctive proprietary brands in all merchandise categories, as well as building on May's stronger existing labels. She will oversee the functions of design, fabric, and color for May's proprietary efforts.

“This is a critical step to advance May from a focus on private label to a focus on exciting, innovative proprietary brands that differentiate our stores and our merchandise from the competition,” said chairman and ceo Gene Kahn, “and it responds to customers'desire for distinctive fashions. The potential of our proprietary products is substantial. Today, these products represent about 21 percent of sales in their respective merchandise categories, and we expect to exceed 25 percent by 2005. This keener focus on proprietary products is key to supporting our sales growth.”

“The successful new proprietary brands introduced last fall in women's sportswear were created by product development teams, and over the next 12 to 18 months we will extend the product development team model in our organization,” said Levitt. “[Williams] will play a crucial role in the collaboration between product development, MMC merchant teams, our overseas offices, and our department store merchants to help increase sales. Her 100 percent focus on proprietary product development will accelerate our progress in achieving our targeted sales growth.”

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Reporting to Williams will be Jeffrey Califano, senior vp of sportswear product development, and Linda Grayson, senior vp of the Design Center. Product development teams are located in New York and St. Louis. May's overseas offices will continue to report to John Danahy, chairman of MMC/MDSI.

Williams began her 31-year retail career in 1971 with Macy's executive training program in New York. She then joined the Sanger/Harris division of Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati) and held several merchandising positions in Dallas. She joined The Limited Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) in 1987, serving as vp and merchandise manager for Express until 1993, and as executive vp and gmm for Limited Stores from 1993 to 1996. In 1997, she was named president of the Size 5-7-9 Shops division of Edison Brothers Stores Inc. (St. Louis). In 1999, she joined Saks Inc. (Birmingham, Ala.), where she became executive vp of domestic branded goods and was named executive vp of its Parisian department store division in 2000. She joined Jacobson Stores in 2001.

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