The clothing supplier Bonprix, which belongs to the Hamburg trading and service group Otto Group, has a new position in the management board. The company announced on Thursday that Carolin Klar would be part of the management quartet of the Bonprix Group from March 1st next year. There she will assume responsibility for the areas of purchasing, procurement and corporate responsibility, the textile retailer explained.
The 43-year-old graduate textile and industrial engineer came to Bonprix in 2008 and has held various management positions in assortment marketing and product management since then. Since 2018 she has served as Vice President Product Management. In this role, she “successfully advanced the strategic realignment of the ranges for which she is responsible and the development of new fashion formats, as well as playing a decisive role in shaping the digitization and agile transformation of the purchasing and creative processes,” the company explained.
“In addition to her outstanding technical expertise and her extensive knowledge of the market and products, Carolin Klar brings with her a strong passion for fashion,” explained Marcus Ackermann, who is responsible for multichannel distance selling on the Otto Group’s Executive Board, in a statement. “With this background, she will provide important impetus as part of the management board and decisively advance Bonprix on the further path of a successful focus company of the Otto Group.”
The long-time managing director Rien Jansen will retire at the end of February 2023
On the four-strong management board of Bonprix, which also includes Richard Gottwald, Markus Fuchshofen and Kai Heck, Klar takes over from Rien Jansen, who, according to the company, will retire on February 28, 2023. The Dutchman has been managing director for creative purchasing and procurement since 2010. In addition, he “built up and decisively promoted the new Corporate Responsibility business area,” explained the clothing retailer.
Group Board Member Ackermann paid tribute to the outgoing manager: “With Rien Jansen, the Otto Group is losing a real leader and an entrepreneur in the best sense of the word,” he explained. “Rien Jansen knows how to inspire and motivate very well. With this and with his great fashion expertise, he has decisively shaped the Bonprix brand in recent years.”