Carolin Klar named new Bonprix Group Managing Director
Carolin Klar, currently Vice President Product Management, is to become a Member of the Bonprix Group Management Board. Alongside CEO Dr. Richard Gottwald, Markus Fuchshofen and Dr. Kai Heck she will co-lead the company as of 01 March 2023. She succeeds Rien Jansen, who is to retire on 28 February 2023. Carolin Klar will hold responsibility for Purchasing, Procurement, and Corporate Responsibility.
Carolin is a Textile and Industrial Engineering graduate. She joined Bonprix in Assortment Marketing in 2008 after a period in Market Research at sector magazine 'Textilwirtschaft' ('Textile Industry', DFV Media Group). In 2011 she moved to Product Management, taking over in 2012 as Head of Product Management for a department within Womens Fashionable Outerwear. In this role she has since developed Womens Fashionable Outerwear into a brand-characterising Bonprix assortment.
As Vice President Product Management since 2018, the 43-year-old has held responsibility for differing Bonprix product ranges. During this time she has successfully driven the strategic realignment of the assortments she heads, has pushed the development of new fashion formats and played a key role in co-shaping the digitisation and agile transformation of Procurement and Creative processes.
Marcus Ackermann, Member of the Otto Group Executive Board, Multichannel Distance Selling: "Besides her outstanding specialist skills, impressive market expertise and comprehensive product knowledge, Carolin Klar has a strong passion for fashion. This background will enable her to deliver key stimuli as a Management Board Member and make a major contribution on Bonprix's further journey to becoming a successful Otto Group focus company."
Dr. Richard Gottwald, Bonprix Group CEO: "In Carolin Klar we will have a Managing Director who combines fashion competence with deep digital know-how. She will thus continue to shape our digital transformation into a leading online fashion brand. I very much look forward to working with her."
Rien Jansen has been a Member of the Bonprix Management Board since 2010. The Dutchman is responsible for Creative Purchasing and Procurement. Furthermore, Rien has built Bonprix's new Corporate Responsibility Division and driven it decisively forward. Under his leadership, the fashion orientation of the Bonprix brand has been strengthened significantly.
Before joining Bonprix, Rien worked in Procurement at various international retail companies, most recently as Commercial Director at Logo International, the Dutch holding company.
Marcus Ackermann, Member of the Otto Group Executive Board, Multichannel Distance Selling: "With Rien Jansen's retirement the Otto Group is losing a genuine leadership figure and an entrepreneur in the most positive sense. Rien has a tremendous talent for inspiring and motivating others. Twinned with his outstanding fashion expertise, this has enabled him to play a decisive role in shaping the Bonprix brand over recent years. We wish Rien Jansen all the very best for the future."
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About Otto Group
Founded in 1949 in Germany, the Otto Group is today a globally operating e-commerce and service Group with around 43,000 employees in 30 significant corporate groups, primarily present in the three economic areas of Germany, the rest of Europe, and the USA. Its business activities extend to the Platforms, Brand Concepts, Retailers, Services, and Financial Services segments. In the 2021/22 financial year (28 February), the Otto Group generated revenue of EUR 16.1 billion. With online sales of around EUR 12.1 billion, the Otto Group is among the world’s largest online retailers. The Group’s main strength is its broad-based presence with various ranges of products for diverse target groups in important regions around the world. A number of strategic partnerships and joint ventures offer the Otto Group outstanding conditions for the transfer of know-how and the use of synergy potential. A high degree of entrepreneurial responsibility and the Group companies’ will to collaborate guarantee both flexibility and customer proximity along with optimal appeal to target groups in each country.