Dive Brief:

• Casper on Wednesday appointed Charles Liu as chief operating officer. Liu's appointment follows the departure of Greg Macfarlane in May, who held the COO and CFO roles.

• Liu most recently served as Walmart's vice president of supply chain for its e-commerce division, according to a company announcement emailed to Retail Dive. He also held leadership roles at Whirlpool, Ahold USA and Walgreens.

• The DTC mattress brand on Wednesday also appointed Dara Williams as chief people and diversity officer, and George Poulios as vice president of retail, real estate and store development.

Dive Insight:

The recent appointments come as Casper, and the industry more broadly, continues to navigate challenges brought on by the pandemic.

Like many retailers, Casper was forced to temporarily shutter its brick-and-mortar stores in the spring in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. 

In some ways, shifting attention away from physical locations and to e-commerce has been easier for DTC brands, which operate relatively few stores compared to traditional retailers. Casper's net revenue rose 26.4% and 15.7% in the first and second quarters, respectively. 

But it hasn't come without challenges: The brand's former CFO and COO departed as the retailer laid off 21% of its workforce, or 78 employees, furloughed staff and announced it would wind down its European operations.

And Casper in its most recent quarter suffered supply challenges, which led to significant out of stocks in its direct-to-consumer and retail partnership channels, driving revenue down 3.3% to $123.5 million. Casper's direct-to-consumer revenue fell some 11.4%, while its retail partnership increased 28.3%.

In his new role, Liu will oversee the brand's end-to-end supply chain, including sourcing, product engineering, compliance, quality, supply planning, production, logistics and customer experience support, the company said Wednesday.

Casper has also long suffered from unprofitability as a result of high marketing costs associated with acquiring customers online. While its retail partnerships — which it has continued to invest in, most recently with its Nordstrom tie-up in November — performed well in the third quarter, it has limited the company's profitability by hurting margins, further outlining the importance of operating its own stores. 

The appointment of Poulios, who has retail experience from Apple, Giorgio Armani, Club Monaco, J. Crew and Banana Republic, helps solidify Casper's plans to open some 200 stores across North America. Poulios will oversee the brand's real estate, store development, retail experience and operations, and visual merchandising teams.

"Dara, Charles, and George bring critical skills and know-how to both our culture and business operations as we further our commitment to improve diversity and inclusion, while scaling our business to bring better sleep to all," co-founder and CEO Philip Krim said in a statement.