Biography
Bonnie Brooks was made vice-chairman of Hudson’s Bay Company in 2013 having acted as the president and chief executive of the company since 2008. During her time as vice-chair, she re-edited the store's product offerings, bringing in new lines and reinvigorating merchandising, displays and marketing.
At the time of her appointment, Richard Baker , the owner of Lord & Taylor who bought Hudson's Bay Company in 2008, told the Financial Post, “Business is very good [and] we really thought this was a great time to leverage Bonnie’s creative capability to grow multiple businesses rather than having her spend as much time as she was on the day to day operations.”
Following her departure from HBC in 2016, Brooks joined the board of directors for Florida-based retailer Chico's FAS, where she was made chief executive and president in July 2019 after being appointed interim chief executive in April. She also serves on the boards of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and Rogers Communications, and from 2014 to 2018 was a member of Abercrombie & Fitch's board of directors.
Prior to her work at Hudson’s Bay, Brooks was an executive officer and president of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group, based in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2008. Brooks has also served as executive vice president, general merchandise manager, and senior vice president of marketing at Holt Renfrew, Canada’s leading luxury department store.
A keen retailer from a young age, Brooks told Macleans, “I was making and selling Barbie doll clothes — which maybe we shouldn’t tell Mattel — when I was nine years old.” Brooks’ first job in retail was in London's Biba store when it was still in its 1970s-era heyday. After departing for Canada, Brooks started her career in at Fairweather, part of the now-defunct Dylex chain, as a copywriter and a stylist. Following a rapid series of promotions at the company, she joined Holt Renfrew in 1983.
Brooks earned an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.