Ecommerce giant Shoes.com has appointed a new president, Bradley Wilson. It’s a move the company says will take the company through the “next phase of growth”.
“SHOES.COM and its portfolio of brands are well positioned to change how customers find the shoes that they love,” said Wilson. “I am thrilled to lock arms with the forward-thinking team that’s been squarely focused on marrying technology and commerce. There is considerable opportunity ahead to provide the SHOES.COM customers with an elevated and unique shopping experience. I have jumped in, feet first.”
The appointment comes after letting go of a “rash of employees”, according to The Globe and Mail, though the exact number of employees and when the layoffs happened is unconfirmed. However, the company’s Glassdoor page has anonymous entries talking about layoffs as early as March.
The entries cite other grievances with the company culture, including poor wages and a distrust of HR. “Do not go on a hiring spree and then hire 80 percent of those employees after you realize you can’t afford them,” one entry from August reads. “The pay is below industry standard.”
“Most recently this company decided to without another prior notice AT ALL, ‘lay off’, over 1/3 of the entire burnaby [sic] office,” one reads. “it happend [sic] halfway thru a shift and no one was given any real reason, though it became rather obvious this company has and has had for some time, financial problems. They decided to keep most of the new people.”
Shoes.com is a company many are watching as one of the next Canadian companies to IPO, and has been public about its desire for aggressive growth, citing his desire to raised $25 million for acquisitions. Bradley Wilson is a former general manager at Expedia, where he took charge of Travelocity. He acted as the Chief Marketing Officer at Travelocity, which was sold to Expedia in 2014. He’s held senior management roles at Nutrisystem and Match.com.
“After a thorough and deliberate selection process, SHOES.COM is delighted to welcome Bradley as we navigate through the quickly evolving and expanding landscape of ecommerce,” said Roger Hardy, CEO and chairman of the board of directors. “Bradley has an expansive understanding of the needs of our customer and will continue to look for innovative ways to serve them and our vendor community. We are thrilled to have him take the helm of SHOES.COM and lead us through the next stage of growth.”
Shoes.com launched in 2012 in Vancouver. Between 2014 and 2015, the Shoes.com reported that its sales grew by 150 percent bringing 2015 annual revenues to over $200 million.
BetaKit has reached out to Shoes.com for further comment on the layoffs and how Wilson’s new role will drive the company’s next phase of growth.
Image via Complex