The Children’s Place Inc. the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America, based in Secaucus, this week announced the appointment of Maegan Markee to the new role of brand president, the promotion of Sheamus Toal as the company’s chief opperating officer and chief financial officer and the hiring of Mary Beth Sheridan as the company’s chief merchant, all effective immediately.
Jane Elfers, CEO and president, said: “I am thrilled to announce the promotions and expanded scope for Maegan and Sheamus and to welcome Mary Beth to our team. I am looking forward to partnering with Maegan, Sheamus and Mary Beth to advance our top- and bottom-line growth initiatives as we work together to ensure that a digital-first mindset remains at the forefront of the company’s decision-making. With our industry-leading digital penetration, it is imperative that our entire team stays laser-focused on digital growth.”
In the new role of brand president, Markee will have oversight for all customer-facing activities across the company’s family of brands and will continue to report to Elfers. Markee will have oversight for design, sourcing, merchandising, marketing, planning, allocation and the company’s wholesale and international businesses. Markee has been with the company for over 13 years, holding executive positions of increasing responsibility.
Elfers commented: “Maegan architected the company’s marketing transformation and played an integral part in accelerating our transformation to a digital-first company and implementing our Amazon marketplace strategy. Maegan’s deep digital expertise and her cross-functional leadership throughout the company’s strategic transformation makes her the ideal executive to lead the growth of our brands.”
In the expanded role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Toal will continue to report to Elfers and will have oversight for information technology, logistics, distribution and store operations, in addition to his current responsibilities for finance, accounting, investor relations, real estate and legal. Toal joined the Children’s Place in October 2022 and previously spent over 16 years with New York & Co., where he held several senior-level finance and operational positions as chief operating officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer and treasurer, culminating in his role as CEO from 2020-2021.
Elfers continued: “Sheamus has been a key contributor since the day he joined our team. Sheamus has a very strong appreciation for our digital transformation, and he is focused on the significant opportunities now available to us to continue to optimize our expense structure and our store fleet, and to streamline our operations as we continue to execute our transformation. Sheamus’ extensive specialty retail operating experience makes him particularly well-suited to take on these additional operating responsibilities and the combination of finance and operational oversight under one leader provides important synergies as we transform to a more agile and nimble digital-first model.”
In the new role of chief merchant, Sheridan will have direct responsibility for merchandising, sourcing, planning and allocation and will report to Markee. Sheridan was most recently a chief merchandising officer at Anthropologie from September 2020 to February. Prior to that, she was with Macy’s for over seven years in executive roles, culminating as group vice president, merchandising, digital, product development and design. Sheridan also spent over 20 years with Lord & Taylor, where she held executive roles of increasing responsibility, including as senior vice president, general merchandising manager of menswear and childrenswear.
Elfers concluded: “I have worked with Mary Beth previously, and am confident that she has the experience and skill set necessary to quickly identify growth opportunities on both the top and bottom lines and to develop collaborative, cross-functional strategies to achieve them. Mary Beth’s results-driven mindset will help us continue to build momentum with our millennial and Gen Z customers.”
