Sonja Balodis strengthens the management of the Otto subsidiary Witt Group.
At the apparel retailer, Balodis will be responsible for marketing the international markets, menswear, quality management and corporate responsibility, as well as the brand ‘Behold!’ be responsible. She will take up her new position on January 1st.
Balodis takes over the purchasing departments from Stefanie Zühlke-Schmidt, “whose area of responsibility has recently increased enormously due to the integration of Heine into the Witt Group,” the Witt Group announced on Wednesday. Zühlke-Schmidt is currently responsible for thirteen purchasing departments.
“Sonja Balodis brings with her many years of experience and very deep knowledge of global procurement as well as a keen sense of fashion and trends,” said Marcus Ackermann, Otto Group Board Member for Multichannel Distance Selling. “With this background, as part of the management of the Witt Group, together with Stefanie Zühlke-Schmidt, she will provide important impetus in the purchasing areas and decisively advance the Witt Group, a successful focus company of the Otto Group.”
Previously, Balodis was product manager at Marc Cain. The paths with the Bodelshausen clothing company parted after two years at the end of January. Before that, she worked for the Comma brand, a subsidiary of the Rottendorf fashion retailer S.Oliver, since 2007, most recently as spokeswoman for the managing director. Balodis started her career in 1995 at Apriori, a subsidiary of the Escada Group, and later became part of the management team.
“With Sonja Balodis, we have gained a colleague for management who combines strategic and operational brand procurement and orientation with fashion expertise and an affinity for key figures,” adds Witt Managing Director Patrick Boos. “Furthermore, her explicit team orientation makes her an excellent personal fit for us in the Witt Group.”