Beauty Retailer Douglas Taps Former Hugo Boss Exec as New CFO

PARIS – Douglas, Europe’s largest premium beauty retailer, has named a new chief financial officer, Mark Langer.

Langer, who will succeed Matthias Born on May 1 at the Düsseldorf, Germany-based company, served as Hugo Boss’ chief executive officer between 2016 and 2020. Prior to working at the German fashion brand, where he held numerous management positions, including cfo, Langer was at McKinsey and Procter & Gamble.

Henning Kreke, Douglas supervisory board chairman, said in a statement released Thursday that Langer is the right choice for Douglas during its next phase of development.

“He has outstanding experience of the capital markets, is very well-connected and also savvy in his dealings with investors,” said Kreke. “What is more, he has acquired a high degree of expertise working for brand and consumer goods companies.”

Douglas said Born is leaving the group by mutual consent and on the friendliest of terms so he can pursue a new professional challenge.

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“In recent years, Matthias Born has made a key contribution to ensuring Douglas’ financial solidity, and the successful refinancing program this April is emblematic of that,” said Kreke.

Douglas, with more than 2,000 stores and selling over 130,000 beauty and lifestyle products online, generated sales of 3.2 billion euros in its most recent fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2020.

When those results were released in January, the group said that due to a shift in consumer behavior toward online shopping, about 500 of its stores in Europe, mostly in the south, would be shuttered by fall 2022. Of the closures, there would be about 60 in Germany, where the group has approximately 430 stores.

For more, see:

Douglas Q1 E-commerce Sales Soar 74.3%

Fabio Pampani Promoted to CEO of Douglas South Europe

Douglas to Shut 500 Stores in Europe as Online Sales Surge

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