DFS Group has formally announced today that COO Michael Schriver is leaving after 16 years to become President North Asia at Louis Vuitton.

 

Schriver – whose knowledge of the business and the industry is simply unrivalled – joined DFS back in 1998 as Vice President, General Merchandise Manager of the company’s Hawaii Division and has since held several leadership roles before being appointed to his current COO position in July 2012.

 

Paying tribute to his contribution, Philippe Schaus, DFS Chairman and CEO said: “Michael has played a key role and held many leadership positions during his 16 years with the Group. Michael was instrumental in leading the merchandising transition to its current luxury focus and has led the company’s operations through a period of extraordinary growth.

 

“I am delighted that we are able to make Michael’s invaluable skills available to LVMH Group for this important role.”

 

DFS said that Schriver will begin working for Louis Vuitton on September 1, 2014 and will continue to head up DFS Group’s operations until then. Schaus’ comments are very apt, with both he and Schriver working well together since he came into DFS as Group President of Merchandising and Marketing in 2011 from Louis Vuitton, where he held the position of Executive Vice President, Louis Vuitton Malletier.

 

Michael Schriver, DFS Group COO.

 

 

SCHRIVER’S HUGE CONTRIBUTION:

Doug Newhouse writes: Michael Schriver’s contribution to DFS Group over the last 16 years has been tremendous, being right at the forefront of DFS’ ‘reinvention’ as a specialist luxury retailer catering largely to Japanese travellers in the nineties, to the particular expert retailer it has become today with Mainland Chinese – especially in Hong Kong and Macau.

 

The much respected Schriver has made a huge contribution to the overall business during his time at DFS and never more so than in the years following the relocation of DFS’ HQ to Hong Kong a decade ago under the then visionary Chairman and CEO Ed Brennan.

 

This move has resulted in huge strides being made in DFS’ relationship with Mainland Chinese customers, along with the creation of ever more luxurious downtown ’T’ Gallerias and some new ground-breaking airport retail executions in Los Angeles, Hong Kong and other locations.

 

DFS is clearly regarded within the very top tier of luxury retailing by large, medium and small branded suppliers throughout the world and its reputation with airports, landlords and even its rival retailers is largely second to none. TRBusiness would like to acknowledge the huge role that Michael Schriver has played in building DFS Group internally and with suppliers and landlords and we wish him good luck in his new role with Louis Vuitton.

 

Asked whether the company will be looking for a successor to Schriver, a spokesman today suggested that DFS will be making an organisational announcement at some time in the future.