Danuta Ryder has returned to Henri Bendel after eight years apart from the New York retailer (and division of Limited Inc.). The display veteran will oversee windows, floor display advertising and special events.
Ryder left Bendel in 1992 to become fashion director of the Hong-Kong-based Joyce stores. After that, she lived in Warsaw and Paris, working as an independent consultant.
Limited Inc. executives, stating their intent to return to “the Bendel legacy,” have entrusted Ryder with bringing “a new vitality to the look of the store.” She reports to divisional vp and general manager Ed Burstell. Henri Bendel, a one-store operation and Manhattan retailing icon on Fifth Avenue, did $39 million of business in fiscal 1999.
Ryder replaces Graham Belman, the former visual director who left Henri Bendel this month. The veteran of Bendel, Galleries Lafayette and Bonwit Teller (plus freelance assignments with Bergdorf Goodman and Lord & Taylor) is the featured personality in the VM+SD “Checking Out” column for September. The piece was completed before his departure.