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You’re Hired

TRU Hires Wills as CTO; Javes Named President of TRU Asia

Lance Wills
Lance Wills

Toys “R” Us, Inc., announced that Lance Wills will join the company as executive vice-president, global chief technology officer (CTO), effective June 13. He will report directly to chairman and CEO Dave Brandon.

As CTO, a newly created position within TRU, Wills’ responsibilities will span global IT and digital strategy for the company, bridging both data and business operations. In addition to governance and infrastructure, he will oversee end-to-end strategy, design, and implementation of the company’s digital road map, ensuring the enhancement of the customer experience.

Phillip Newmoyer, who recently joined TRU as senior vice-president and CIO to lead the IT portion of bringing the company’s e-commerce platform in-house, will report to Wills.

Wills comes to TRU from American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) where he served as vice-president, global head of digital technology. Previously, he served as vice-president, direct and omnichannel technologies at Macy’s, Inc. Prior to that, he held various consulting and technology roles within Thomson Reuters (previously Thomson Publishing) in London and San Francisco.

Andre Javes
Andre Javes

In a separate announcement, TRU reported the appointment of Andre Javes as president, Toys “R” Us, Asia Pacific, effective May 27. In this role, he will oversee all operations and business activities for the company’s growing number of stores in Japan, Southeast Asia, Greater China, and Australia, and he will be responsible for the profitability and success of the company in these markets. He will report directly to chairman and CEO Dave Brandon.

A seasoned retail executive with more than 30 years of merchandising and management experience, he most recently served as managing director, TRU, Southeast Asia and Greater China, where he oversaw all operations and business activities for the company’s more than 170 wholly owned stores and approximately 2,500 employees in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Javes first joined TRU, Australia in 2008 as general merchandising manager with responsibility for toy and baby products. After a brief hiatus, he returned to the company in April 2013 as managing director, TRU, Australia. In this capacity, he oversaw all operations and business activities for the company’s more than 30 stores, e-commerce site, corporate office, and more than 1,700 employees there.

Prior to joining TRU, he served as CEO at Anaconda Group Pty from 2009–2012, where he managed a retail chain of camping, outdoor, and adventure gear stores across Australia. He has also worked for Kmart and Coles Supermarkets Australia.

Schleich Hires von Bodelschwingh

Schleich announced that effective June 1, 2016, Karl von Bodelschwingh will assume the role of chief operating officer. As the third managing director, he will be responsible for production, logistics, IT, and procurement. His primary task will be to implement the process structure, particularly in the areas of sales and operations and forecasting. In addition, he will maintain and develop the supplier network. Like the rest of the Schleich management team, von Bodelschwingh has equity interest in the company.

Von Bodelschwingh has many years of experience in management positions and extensive expertise in the plastics industry. Over the past few years, he has owned a consulting firm and managed medium-sized industrial companies. Prior to that, he was managing director at Salamander Industrie-Produkte GmbH. Other previous employers include BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeraete GmbH and Technical Plastic Systems GmbH.