Today Caleres announced changes to its leadership structure, including naming Jay Schmidt president.

As president, Schmidt will assume responsibility for the consumer and brand strategy for Caleres’ entire portfolio, which includes Famous Footwear, Allen Edmonds, Dr. Scholl’s, Naturalizer, Sam Edelman and Vionic, among others. Schmidt most recently held the position of Division President, Caleres Brand Portfolio.

Additionally, Caleres announced several other changes to its leadership structure.

Lydia Park Luis joins Caleres as president, Brand Portfolio-New York Group, and will have responsibility for the company’s international business. Luis was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Jack Rogers where she oversaw rebranding and reorganization of the 60-year-old footwear brand.

Keith Duplain has been promoted to president, Brand Portfolio-St. Louis Group. Duplain has been with Caleres for 15 years and has more than two decades of experience within the industry.

As previously reported, effective November 20, 2020, Michael Edwards was named president, Famous Footwear leading Caleres’ largest brand.

Caleres has also formed a new, digital acceleration team with an eye on continuing to grow its ecommerce business, which has become a key focus area for the company. Willis Hill, Caleres’ senior vice president and chief information officer, will assemble and lead the core digital team.

The changes in its leadership structure will help ensure greater alignment with the company’s strategic direction and accelerate growth initiatives, according to the company.

“This transformation will drive a renewed, consumer-focused approach that will combine the knowhow of our internal resources with the fresh ideas of new industry talent and draw on the strengths of our entire portfolio in the most efficient and value-creating way possible,” said Diane Sullivan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As we continue to execute on our strategy, it is essential that we position Caleres to capture the growth opportunities we see in this rapidly evolving market environment. This next step will strengthen our significant competencies in product creation, assortment development and brand power; and to leverage the substantial investments we’ve made, and the progress achieved in our digital capabilities and ecommerce platform.”