Patti Schnably Shields

Patti’s career across traditional, specialty, and fast-fashion retail over the past 30 years, from value to luxury and across categories (men’s, women’s, kids/baby, accessories), is unique.  Her scope has included omnichannel buying, merchandising, planning, allocation, visual, design, trend, sourcing, ecommerce ops, store operations and product development – and her ability to bring that breadth of experience to the table to lead teams in developing concrete strategies using consumer insights, data analytics, and unique product assortments makes her one of the most diverse, merchant-minded leaders in the industry today.  Patti’s energetic approach is collaborative, customer focused, and brings results through critical mass. She has worked for iconic brands such as New York and Company, Macy’s, Gap Inc., Victoria’s Secret, Charlotte Russe and St. John Knits during periods of dynamic growth and transformation.

Patti most recently served as Acting President and Chief Merchandising officer for New York & Company, an $850M Omnichannel retailer with over 400 stores across the US, their own branded merchandise and Celebrity Fashion collaborations with Eva Mendes, Gabrielle Union, and Kate Hudson. Patti was part of the core leadership team that navigated the company through a massive restructuring and repositioning process. Through her showcased leadership and strategic ability to pivot and drive momentum in the digital business, the company emerged from bankruptcy with a successful sale of the business and efficient go-forward organizational and business structures to take the company into a digital future.

Prior to her tenure at New York & Company, Patti and her family lived in Ireland for over six years while her husband Aidan served as CFO of Primark, Europe’s largest value retailer. While living abroad, Patti developed a robust consulting agenda, helping with due diligence and trend forecasting assignments for both US retailers and manufacturers, while additionally serving as a guest lecturer at Trinity College and the undergraduate program at Dublin Institute of Technology’s Arthur Ryan Retail Centre. The family also purchased and co-own a 230+ year old pub and B&B in their home village of Delgany, County Wicklow, Ireland.

Patti is a graduate of Wake Forest University, where she currently is a member of the Board of Visitors for the Wake Forest School of Business.  She continues to guest lecture at Wake Forest and mentor students and faculty with an interest in the retail sector.