Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt has been appointed as the new chief executive of Karstadt, the German chain of 83 department stores, starting from Feb. 24. The 47-year-old Swedish official will take the place of Andrew Jennings, a native of the U.K. She comes from Ikea, where she acted lately as deputy global vice president, in charge of multi-channel retailing. She also worked for Ikea in Japan and the Netherlands. She previously worked as a fashion designer and buyer. She is said to be able to speak German, unlike her predecessor. We have still been unable to determine whether Simon Rider will continue to run the Karstadt Sports chain of stores, which is reportedly being spun off. The former Foot Locker official began to run it last July.

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