BJ’s Hires Target Exec Amanda Irish as SVP / GM – Own Brands and Innovation

This past week, long time Target merchant & retail Brand leader (private brand) Amanda Irish quietly announced her new role at BJ’s Wholesale Club SVP / GM – Own Brands and Innovation for in a post on LinkedIn. Irish’s 22+ year history at Target included roles in music, snacks candy, and liquor as well as product development roles in Retail Brand food. Most recently she served as VPMM of Dry Grocery and Owned Brand Food.

Irish takes the new role of SVP / GM – Own Brands and Innovation for BJ’s joining her former Target colleague Rachael Vegas who became EVP and Chief Merchant of the club Retailer In October of 2021. Most recently, Vegas was Senior Vice President, Ecommerce Merchandising at H-E-B, where she was responsible for its eCommerce business as well as its in-store financial services and payments division and its retail media initiative. Prior to H-E-B, Vegas held various leadership positions at Brandless, Target, and Delhaize Group.

The pair have impressive Retail Brands background and are sure to be strong leaders in the evolution of the third-largest club retailer in the US and its commitment to private brands.

By Christopher DurhamPublished On: January 16th, 2022Tags: BJs, BJs Wholesale, R-BASIC, R-PRO, SP-BASIC, SP-PLUS, SP-PRO

About the Author: Christopher Durham

Christopher Durham is the president of the Velocity Institute. Prior to this he founded the groundbreaking site My Private Brand. He is the co-founder of The Vertex Awards. He began his retail career building brands at Food Lion and Lowe’s Home Improvement. Durham has worked with retailers around the world, including Albertsons, Family Dollar, Petco, Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, Metro Canada. Durham has published seven definitive books on private brands, including Fifty2: The My Private Brand Project and Vanguard: Vintage Originals.