Pre-owned luxury retailer The RealReal, which opened a joint store-and-consignment office in uptown New York City last week, has announced four new appointments to its board of directors—all of whom boast high-level experience at major corporations.
The new board members are: Stefan Larsson, a former executive at Ralph Lauren, H&M, and Gap Inc.; James Miller, a former executive at Google Inc., Amazon, Cisco, and IBM Corp.; Niki Leondakis, president of Wolff Resident Experience Co. and the former chief executive officer of Equinox Fitness Clubs; and Rob Krolik, former chief financial officer of Yelp.
The new appointments bring the size of The RealReal’s board of directors to eight members. The preexisting members of the board are company founder and CEO Julie Wainwright; Michael Kumin, managing partner at Great Hill Equity Partners; Gilbert L. Baird III, cofounder and partner at PWP Growth Equity; and Maha Ibrahim, general partner at Canaan Partners.
“Stefan, Jim, Niki, and Rob are innovative leaders with expertise spanning retail, technology, customer experience, and finance industries,” said Wainwright in a statement. “Each new member is an invaluable addition and will undoubtedly strengthen our board.”
The venture-backed retailer has been growing its brick-and-mortar presence—both with stores and consignment offices that staff gemologists and appraisers—in major cities in recent years.
It’s now a dominant force in pre-owned jewelry and watch retail. And its highly pedigreed new appointees line up nicely with the scope of its presumed business goals and growth potential—which, when considering several factors, chiefly consumers’ collective desire to slow the rate of apparel manufacturing in the name of a healthier planet, can seem boundless. (WWD wrote in December that “secondhand shopping and fashion sharing, frequently marketed as a form of eco-consumerism, have gone mainstream, especially with the younger set.”)
Here’s a deeper dive into the new board members’ expertise and experience:
Larsson, who previously served as president and CEO of the Ralph Lauren Corp. and global president for Old Navy, comes with experience in “managing and growing global, diversified retail businesses, and has a deep knowledge of the fashion and apparel industries,” according to the same statement.
Miller’s experience is in tech. He “holds decades of experience in technology and product innovation, as well as in scaling operations of various-stage companies through hyper-growth phases,” according to The RealReal release.
Leondakis has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and in building lifestyle brands. She’s currently the president of private equity–backed multifamily real estate firm Wolff Resident Experience Co. In past incarnations, she was the CEO of Commune Hotels & Resorts and president and chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.
Krolik served as Yelp Inc.’s CFO for five years, “growing revenue from $50 million to over $700 million and leading its successful IPO.” Prior to this, he “held financial leadership positions at Move, eBay, and Shopping.com.
Top: Outside The RealReal’s new store on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (photo courtesy of the RealReal)
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