David Jaffe, President and CEO of ascena retail group, inc., the owners of maurices, Justice, dressbarn, Catherine's, and Lane Bryant, joins us to provide insight on driving sustained profitable growth. He tokk the stage as LSBE's fall Distinguished Speaker, Tuesday, September 9 at 11:00 a.m. at UMD's Weber Hall. The event was free and open to the public.
Ascena is a leading national retailer with $5 billion in annual sales and over 3,800 stores through its five brands named above.
Jaffe joined ascena in 1992, holding numerous positions of increasing responsibility until being promoted to President and CEO in 2002. He was responsible for directing the transition of dressbarn from an off-price discount store to a lifestyle specialty store brand and led the mergers with maurices in 2005, Tween Brands in 2009, and Charming Shoppes in 2012.
Prior to joining dressbarn, Jaffe was a General Partner of Chemical Venture Partners, a private equity firm. He began his career at Merrill Lynch as a portfolio manager. Jaffe received his BS/BA from the Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Jaffe is a Director of the National Retail Federation, the Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School and the JP Morgan Chase Regional Advisory Board. He is also a Director of Food Allergy Research & Education, and a Trustee of the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He lives with his wife and four children in New Canaan, CT.
"We are very privileged to have David Jaffe share his insight with us on sustaining profitable growth," said Amy B. Hietapelto, Dean of LSBE. "As the head of ascena retail group, he has achieved tremendous success. Our revered maurices is in extremely capable hands, and we look forward to having Mr. Jaffe share how he has successfully grown maurices and ascena with his business strategies."
"National Bank of Commerce is proud to support the LSBE's fall Distinguished Speaker," said Bruce H. Webb, Community Bank President – Minnesota. "We couldn't be more excited about hearing from Mr. Jaffe, whose organization is one of the cornerstones of the Twin Ports. I would encourage the community to take advantage of hearing about a relevant topic from an outstanding leader with a proven track record."
National Bank of Commerce is generously underwriting David Jaffe's presentation. With six local branches, National Bank of Commerce is the area's largest, locally owned bank with headquarters in Superior, WI. Additional bank locations include Duluth and Hermantown, MN, a midtown Superior bank, and one each in Poplar and Solon Springs. Its web address is www.nbcbanking.com.