Bright Cellars Appoints Joe Megibow as Chief Executive Officer

Megibow Brings Proven Record of Leading Data-Driven Consumer Businesses

MILWAUKEE, July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bright Cellars, the leading data-driven wine discovery, curation, and production platform, today announced the appointment of Joe Megibow as Chief Executive Officer. Megibow has been at the forefront of digital disruption of legacy industries, focused on marrying e-commerce, business strategy, and innovative technology for over three decades. He formerly served as CEO and board member of Purple Innovation, Inc., a digitally-native vertical brand with a mission to help people feel and live better through innovative comfort solutions.

Megibow led Purple to profitability while more than doubling revenue to $700+ million. In this role, he oversaw significant manufacturing expansion, the launch of national showrooms, and expansion into more than 2,500 wholesale doors. Earlier in his career, Megibow served as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. where he led the transformation and growth of American Eagle's $550+ million direct-to-consumer business. Prior to that, Megibow held several senior roles with Expedia, Inc. including VP and General Manager of Expedia.com, the $10B+ U.S. online travel business. Megibow started his career as an engineer and was part of the founding team of a customer experience data analytics solution that later successfully sold to IBM. 

Amid a massive increase in ecommerce demand, Bright Cellars has expanded its business to reach over $40M in annual revenue. The Milwaukee-based company is disrupting the $78B sector with its wine production, data platform, and personalized taste matching and education.

"Wine has been a part of society for thousands of years – yet has become increasingly complicated and out of reach for many," said Megibow. "Bright Cellars' consumer-centric model, helping to match wine tastes to customers without any prior knowledge of wine, has been missing in the industry. This data-driven approach not only delivers better customer satisfaction, but also enables efficient development and production. I'm thrilled for the opportunity to work with this innovative team as we fulfill our mission of making it much easier to learn about, receive, and enjoy wine."

"Joe is a world-class executive with a proven track record of profitably scaling disruptive consumer companies. We are thrilled to have him join as CEO and know he will play a pivotal role as the company continues to reinvent the archaic, nearly $80B U.S. wine industry and appeal to a new generation of wine lovers," said Clara Sieg, Revolution Ventures Partner and Bright Cellars board member.

Building on the work of Bright Cellars founders, the senior management team has grown in depth and breadth to include a powerhouse team of consumer, tech, and data executives with diverse backgrounds in CPG, retail, supply chain logistics, and travel. Megibow joins Dawn Miedler, President and COO, and Chris Cardello, CTO. Miedler oversees all facets of the operations and supply chain, bringing over 20 years of experience with consumer companies like Plum Organics (acquired by Campbell), Levi's (now publicly traded), and a host of other innovative brands, having scaled complex supply chains both domestically and abroad. Chris Cardello brings over 15 years of experience having previously led software engineering and product at Tuft & Needle, where he helped scale the company's tech team and ecommerce platform. This growth led to the company's acquisition by Serta Simmons Bedding and subsequent migration of Serta Simmons DTC web properties onto Tuft &Needle's ecommerce platform.

Bright Cellars is a monthly wine subscription committed to helping people discover wines they love with a simple 7 question quiz that matches consumers to wines that fit their taste profile. Bright Cellars' mission is to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. Learn more at: www.brightcellars.com.

SOURCE Bright Cellars Inc.