Following a thorough executive global search process, Régis Schultz has been named as the Company’s new Chief Executive Officer, according to JD Sports Fashion Plc, a leading retailer of sports, fashion, and outdoor products.
Régis is anticipated to join JD in September, at which point Kath Smith will, over the course of a brief transitional period, fully transfer all of her responsibilities to Régis.
Kath will then return to the Board in her previous position as Senior Independent Director.
In his role as CEO, Régis has a lot of retail experience, including that of a UK-listed company and in a variety of retail categories, including home, fashion, electrical goods, sporting goods, and food.
He has a proven track record of driving multi-channel development strategies, working across international markets, and bringing about transformational change through digitization.
He comes from the Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group, where he served as President of Retail since 2019. This conglomerate is a partner to many of the most well-known businesses in the automotive, retail, financial services, real estate, and health industries.
The retail segment, which includes operations in the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa, has contributed to the launch and growth of world-class brands like Zara, IKEA, Hugo Boss, M&S, and Lacoste.
Additionally, Régis has more than ten years of expertise leading significant retail companies.
He served as CEO of Monoprix, the largest grocery and clothing shop in France’s city centres and a member of Groupe Casino, before joining Al-Futtaim.
During his tenure there, he established and carried out a new digital strategy, finalised the acquisition of an online shoe pure player, inked a partnership with Amazon, and finalised the first international partnership with Ocado.
