At its recent meeting, the IGDS Board appointed André Maeder as the new IGDS President for 2021-2023. André has been a member of the IGDS Board since 2018. His expertise lies in the international retail market and in premium and luxury brands.
André is the CEO of The KaDeWe Group (KaDeWe in Berlin, Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich), which he joined in 2014. Prior engagements include serving as the Chief Retail Officer & Member of the Board of Karstadt (today Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt) and CEO of Charles Voegele. Other renowned workplaces include Harrods in London, as Chief Retail & Chief Merchandise Officer for six years, and Chief Retail Officer & Member of the Management Board at Hugo Boss for five years.
André is succeeding Simon Susman, Honorary President of Woolworths (South Africa), who will become a member of the IGDS Board.
As the new IGDS President, I am very honoured, and at the same time I feel responsible to represent and support IGDS and its international members in this challenging social, economic and environmental circumstances, with the objective to strengthen the importance of retailing and department stores for the future,