Hudson's Bay Co. taps Gerald Storch as CEO

Hudson's Bay Co., owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor department stores, has tapped former chief executive of Toys 'R' Us Gerald 'Jerry' Storch as new chief executive.

He is set to succeed the company's current CEO Richard Baker on January 6, 2015, who will remain on board as executive chairman and governor. Together the two will consist of the office of chairman. In his new role Storch will oversee the daily operations of Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th, Home Outfitters and HBC Digital. All of the department store's leaders, including Marigay McKee at Saks Fifth Avenue, Jonathan Greller at Saks off 5th and Liz Rodbell at Lord & Taylor will report directly to Storch.

“Having Jerry as the CEO gives me some additional time to focus on the three core activities that I generally like to focus on — the international opportunity, our real estate opportunities, and potential mergers and acquisitions,” said Baker to WWD. “I still will be involved in participating and understanding the operations of our existing businesses and how we invest our capital. Jerry and I will be partners in all endeavours of the Hudson’s Bay Co.”

Storch brings with him over thirty years of experience in senior management and management consulting. He previously served as CEO and Chairman of Storch Advisors. Prior to that, he was Chairman and CEO of Toys 'R' Us from 2006 to 2013. He has been credited for leading the resurgence of the company and expanding it's brand into a 13 billion dollard global retailer. Storch also served as Vice Chairman of Target, where he founded and expanded the retailer's e-commerce site from the start.

“Jerry brings to us tremendous capabilities on both the operating front and the digital frontier as well as being a world-class strategist and being responsible for many rollouts and developments at Toys ‘R’ Us and Target over the years,” added Baker. “The opportunity to have Jerry work with us is a big win. I have spent a tremendous amount of time over the last year working with Jerry. When we acquired Saks, we brought Jerry and his consulting team in to help us reposition Saks Off 5th over the last year. There’s been fantastic growth in the business.”

“I’m particularly impressed with his ability to work with the team, coach the team and create a plan to execute.”