Rue21 appoints new executives

Fast fashion retailer rue21 has named Catherine "Cat" Morisano chief merchandising officer and Mary Blodgett senior vice president of stores. Morisano succeeds Karen Pinney, who mutually parted ways with the company.

Prior to joining rue21, Morisano was the executive vice president and chief merchant at Charlotte Russe. Previous stints include vice president of merchandising/GMM at Fashion Nova, vice president of Merchandising/GMM of YM Inc., and vice president, DMM of Body Central. She succeeds Dirk Armstrong who left the company.

In a statement, Michael C. Appel, rue21 chairman and CEO said, "Cat is an outstanding senior merchant with close to 20 years of experience across leading digital and brick-and-mortar fashion companies. Her expertise is setting broad product direction that aligns with the customer, making it easy to deliver an inspiring customer journey. People and product are her passion."

Blodgett comes to rue21 from Charming Charlie where she was senior vice president of stores. Previous roles include vice president of stores for The Body Shop International; executive vice president of stores for TABI; zone vice president Northeast for Victoria's Secret, and senior vice president of stores for Ann Taylor.

Regarding Blodgett, Appel said in a statement, "Mary has extensive experience in specialty retail translating brand value to consumers. Her track record includes success in sales operations, strategic planning, market expansion, project management and sales training. She has led store teams to achieve top performance by providing strong leadership, team mentorship, and focused talent initiatives."