Helena Foulkes takes over at HBC

Jerry Storch’s departure from HBC’s CEO desk in October had put former chief executive Richard Baker in the role on an interim basis. However, the company filled the role more permanently Monday with the hiring of Helena Foulkes, CVS’ executive vice-president and president of its pharmacy operations.

Foulkes, who has a Masters of business administration from Harvard, had been with the U.S. pharmacy chain CVS since 1992, serving at one point as its chief marketing officer and helping oversee the launch of its ExtraCare reward platform.

The retail brand (which owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, among other banners) is currently in transformation mode as it tries to save $350 million by the end of this fiscal year. To that end, it announced last summer that it was cutting 2,000 jobs across North America.

HBC recently named Milton Pappas as its new CMO as well, and expanded the role of Saks Fifth Avenue president Marc Metrick to include its Gilt and Saks Off 5th retailers.

Foulkes officially takes over Feb. 19.

Cannabis brand Phivida names a new CMO
Put another tick in the tally of senior marketing talent entering the legal marijuana market. Mike Cornwell has settled back into a permanent marketing role in Canada, having just been named CMO of cannabis extract and beverage company Phivida.

A former marketing director and executive at Red Bull Canada, Cornwell has steered the Samsung brand as CMO in New Zealand before taking an interim position as CMO of Microsoft in that market. Phivida’s products are not currently legal for sale in Canada and remain illegal beyond the July 1 legalization of recreational cannabis use. The company is currently targeting U.S. markets such as California for growth.

Potdevin out at Lululemon
Lululemon’s board of directors has begun a search for a “proven and highly-experienced” CEO following the unexpected resignation of Laurent Potdevin on Monday. The company said in a statement that it “expects all employees to exemplify the highest levels of integrity and respect for one another, and Mr. Potdevin fell short of these standards of conduct.”

Mr. Potdevin will be given US$5 million as severance, according to the company’s regulatory filings. No further details have been released.