Dive Brief:

• Direct-to-consumer travel brand Away has tapped Carla Dunham as its new chief marketing officer, according to details shared with Retail Dive.
• Dunham succeeds Melissa Weiss, who left the role at Away in July 2022 after taking on the position in November 2021, according to LinkedIn.
• Prior to becoming Away’s chief marketer, Dunham was the chief merchandising and marketing officer at Foxtrot, starting at the company in 2019. Prior to that, she acted as the vice president of marketing at Equinox gyms and vice president of global brand strategy at Kate Spade, according to LinkedIn.

Dive Insight:

For Away, a return to pre-pandemic travel patterns likely comes as a welcomed shift in consumer behavior.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic plummeted the company’s sales: The brand saw a 90% sales decrease within a few weeks, contributing to its decision to lay off employees, according to a Medium post from the brand from April 2020.

But toward the end of 2022, shoppers seemed much more eager to spend on trips. The luggage company’s performance between the Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday holidays was almost double that of 2021 and 60% above 2019 levels, according to a company spokesperson.

Dunham’s appointment follows a variety of other C-suite changes at the brand. In November, Away’s chief financial officer stepped down to become the company’s president, without an immediate successor identified. A year before that, the brand named its first chief digital and operations officers.

Away’s CEO position has switched hands several times over the past few years: co-founder Steph Korey stepped down from the CEO role, former Lululemon COO Stuart Haselden took on the position, Korey returned to become co-CEO with Haseldon, Korey and Haseldon both left, and co-founder Jen Rubio took on the position.

Looking forward, Dunham is excited about in-store retail for the brand going into 2023 and how it relates to everything from amplifying marketing to omnichannel experiences, according to the company.