Michelle Kluz Joins Kearney As Partner in Consumer Practice

CHICAGO, Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global management consulting firm Kearney announced that Michelle Kluz has joined the firm as a new partner in the Consumer and Retail Practice. Ms. Kluz is a C-level executive and strategist with diverse experience, having led an established $1B global retailer, built and scaled a luxury activewear business from the ground up, and guided the turnaround of an iconic fitness brand. Over the past couple of years she held several advisory and interim CEO roles, including running Retail for Ascend Wellness Holdings, a multi-state cannabis operator where she led a re-brand and successfully supported the team to scale the business from ~$100M run rate to ~$350M.

"We are delighted to welcome such a dynamic and deeply experienced leader to Kearney," said Greg Portell, lead partner in Kearney's global Consumer and Retail Practice. "Michelle brings our clients a formidable blend of hands-on experience, big-picture insights, and detailed understanding of consumer and retail businesses."

In recent years, Ms. Kluz has been both a successful entrepreneur and an esteemed  independent advisor. In 2018 she launched Urban Savage, a self-financed luxury activewear label sold D2C and wholesale, which she built from the ground up to profitability by 2019. As a private equity advisor, Ms. Kluz completed diligence projects for a $500M+ fitness conglomerate, a $1B apparel group, and a $150M specialty retailer, among others. Previously, she served as CEO of Pure Barre, the world's largest barre chain, and as CEO of BB Retail Capital Group, a 1,000+ store private retail and franchise conglomerate operating across 23 countries. Earlier in her career, she was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, where she led projects for retail and luxury goods companies.

"Kearney feels like a perfect fit for me," said Ms. Kluz. "I have a passion for transforming and scaling experiential brands, guiding businesses through complex challenges to achieve major performance gains, and forging strong, lasting bonds between brands and consumers. I love that Kearney consultants are so results-focused, yet make such authentically personal connections with clients — not only in the C-suite, but with employees throughout the company who make operations work and directly shape consumer experience. I look forward to learning from my new partners and colleagues, and to helping Kearney clients navigate the challenging road ahead."

About Kearney
As a global consulting partnership in more than 40 countries, our people make us who we are. We're individuals who take as much joy from those we work with as the work itself. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we help our clients break through. Learn more at Kearney.com.

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SOURCE Kearney