Kmart appointments three execs

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/25/2004 12:00:00 AM

TROY, Mich. — Kmart Holding Corporation has appointed Robert Norton as senior vice president, stores; Dene Rogers as senior vice president, store operations; and David Whipple as senior vice president, associate resources.

Norton will have overall responsibility for Kmart’s stores, including the field and headquarters’ store-support organization. Prior to joining Kmart, he served as the chairman and CEO of FTD Inc. He joined FTD as president and CEO in January 1997. Before leading FTD, Norton held senior positions at Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company.

Rogers will have responsibility for the store-support organization at headquarters and will drive multi-functional operational improvement initiatives across the store base. Rogers has worked in a variety of capacities at Kmart since joining in October 2003. Before joining Kmart, Rogers was senior vice president, business development at General Electric Capital Corporation.

Whipple is now the senior human resource executive at the company, whose immediate focus is developing Kmart’s store-associate population. Whipple joins Kmart after nine years at two U.S. subsidiaries of Netherlands-based Ahold.