C&A gets hold of top executive from El Corte Inglés

Fashion group C&A welcomes Spanish retail veteran Mercedes Gorriti to its board of directors. Gorriti is the former head of the womenswear department at El Corte Inglés. Her appointment follows the restructuring in which four other directors lost their positions.

Restructuring in management

C&A’s board of directors only has three of its seven chief executives left since last October, when four board members left the company. Those who remain are commercial director Martijn van der Zee, COO Tjeerd van der Zee and CEO Alain Caparros – the first top executive who is not a member of the Brenninkmeijer clan.

The departures are the result of C&A’s reorganisation, which it has been rolling out step-by-step for the past two years. The European headquarters in Düsseldorf has been affected most recently. Caparros mentioned the need for “lean management” with “clear responsibilities, flat hierarchies and short reporting and decision-making channels”.

Confidante at El Corte Inglés

Nevertheless, a new director is joining the board: Mercedes Gorriti, who was head of the womenswear department at department store chain El Corte Inglés since 2015. Trade magazine MDS calls her a confidante of former top executive Dimas Gimeno. One of the most prominent retail figures in Spain, Gorriti had already built up an impressive career: she started at supermarket chain Continente. Afterwards, she co-founded children’s fashion chains Gocco (one of Spain’s biggest brands in this field) and Mummy.

Gorriti’s precise role at C&A has not yet been announced, but we expect the apparel chain to mainly employ her expertise in children’s and women’s fashion.