Matt

_ FORT WAYNE, Ind., Aug. 3, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vera Bradley, Inc. announced today that its board of directors unanimously elected Matthew McEvoy as a director, effective July 29, 2011. Mr. McEvoy is Senior Vice President of Strategy and New Business Development at Burberry Group plc. Prior to joining Burberry in 2002, Mr. McEvoy worked for nearly fifteen years at Goldman Sachs, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of the Retail and Apparel Focus Group from 1993 to 1999. Mr. McEvoy is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard College. "We are fortunate

Body Central has announced the appointment of Matthew Swartwood as senior vice president, stores. In his position, Swartwood will oversee store operations for Body Central. Prior to joining Body Central Corp., Mr. Swartwood was the vice president of retail store operations for Vans, a subsidiary of VF Corporation, where he was responsible for the operation and support of all 238 Vans Retail stores.

WHAT GOT HIM HERE: A strange journey. After working previously as a landscape architect and spending 10 years out at sea as a private yacht sailor, Mark Desrochers returned home to start a woodworking business with his best friend, Matthew Burak. “Matt had a long and successful run as a furniture maker,” Desrochers recalls. “We incubated this table leg business for a few years inside of his furniture business.” As for the direct marketing side of the business, this was the first venture into that arena for the pair. “We were introduced to direct marketing through a customer in Matt’s furniture store,” Desrochers