Douglas GmbH: Sander van der Laan appointed as new DOUGLAS CEO – Tina Müller joins the Supervisory Board

EQS-News: Douglas GmbH / Key word(s): Personnel
Douglas GmbH: Sander van der Laan appointed as new DOUGLAS CEO – Tina Müller joins the Supervisory Board
20.10.2022 / 12:44 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

PRESS RELEASE

Sander van der Laan appointed as new DOUGLAS CEO – Tina Müller joins the Supervisory Board

Düsseldorf, 20.10.2022 DOUGLAS, Europe’s leading provider of premium beauty and health products, today announced a leadership change: Sander van der Laan (54) will become CEO of the company as of November 1, 2022. He will succeed Tina Müller (54), who decided to resign at her own request and will join the Supervisory Board after five successful years as CEO of DOUGLAS.

“I am delighted that we have won Sander van der Laan as CEO of DOUGLAS. He is an excellent manager with proven experience in the retail industry and a strong leadership personality. I would like to thank Tina Müller on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board for her outstanding contribution to the company's success and regret her departure," said Henning Kreke, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DOUGLAS. "In the last years, she has redefined DOUGLAS' strategy and successfully driven the company's transformation into Europe's leading digital premium beauty platform. We are very pleased that we will continue to benefit from her expertise and experience as a member of the Supervisory Board.”

Alexander Dibelius, CEO Germany of CVC, the majority shareholder of DOUGLAS, said: “With Sander van der Laan, we welcome an experienced manager with an outstanding track record at renowned retailers and brand manufacturers. We are very much looking forward to joining forces. Tina Müller has laid an excellent foundation: She has geared DOUGLAS towards a modern and digital direction. At the same time, she has tripled e-commerce sales, achieved record sales and an excellent result this year after steering the company safely through the pandemic. We thank her for her outstanding commitment to the company and its employees.”

Tina Müller said: “It was my great pleasure to lead DOUGLAS into a new era together with an outstanding team, who has always put our customers first. I am truly proud that together we have created Europe's largest premium beauty and health platform. Now is the right time for me to take the next step. In the coming years, I want to set new and different impulses. I would like to express my gratitude to all DOUGLAS employees and brand partners for their support and great trust. In addition, I would also like to thank our customers for their fantastic support over the past years. I am delighted that Sander van der Laan, a recognized and experienced top manager, is taking over at DOUGLAS. I am certain that he will successfully lead the company and I wish him and all colleagues the very best.”

Sander van der Laan most recently steered the fortunes of Dutch non-food retailer Action as CEO for more than six years. Under his leadership, the company's sales increased from 2 to over 5 billion euros. He also played a key role in driving Action's international expansion in ten European countries, further developing the brand and product range and successfully establishing the company's digital interface. Prior to joining Action, he spent over 16 years in various management positions at the listed retail company Ahold Delhaize – most recently as CEO of the leading Dutch retail chain Albert Heijn. During this time, he was responsible for the transformation of Albert Heijn into a multi-channel brand and headed the company's expansion into new markets.

“Sander van der Laan has extensive management expertise in the retail sector combined with an outstanding track record in driving sales, marketing, supply chain management and digitalization. Within a few years, he significantly increased Action's sales and operating profit. This makes him an ideal candidate to lead DOUGLAS into the next phase. In particular, this will include optimizing backbone processes to match the e-commerce business, fully integrating the pharmacy portfolio, and further strengthening profitability,” said Kreke.

“DOUGLAS has undergone an extraordinary development in the last few years," said van der Laan. "I am looking forward to contributing my experience and continuing the company's success story together with an accomplished team.”

Since she was appointed CEO in November 2017, Tina Müller has successfully realigned DOUGLAS' strategy. In addition to the strong focus on e-commerce, she repositioned DOUGLAS with a successful brand relaunch and refined the shopping experience in the stores substantially. Most recently, Tina Müller restructured the European store network and laid the foundation for the company's expansion into the highly attractive growing online pharmacy market with the acquisition of the Dutch mail-order pharmacy Disapo.

ABOUT DOUGLAS

DOUGLAS is Europe’s leading platform for premium beauty and health. Offering nearly 300,000 beauty, health and lifestyle products in online shops, the partner program and around 1,900 stores, DOUGLAS inspires customers to live their own kind of beauty by offering a previously unparalleled assortment. The further development of our successful omnichannel positioning is at the heart of our #FORWARDBEAUTY.DigitalFirst strategy, under which we are consistently expanding both our strong E-Commerce and store experience. In fiscal year 2020/21, DOUGLAS generated sales of 3.1 billion euros in the areas of perfumery, decorative cosmetics, skin and hair care as well as nutritional supplements, health and accessories.

PRESS CONTACT

Peter Wübben,

Corporate Communications, DOUGLAS

Phone: +49 (0) 211 16847 8569

E-mail: pr@douglas.de

20.10.2022 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
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