rue21, a leading fast fashion retailer, has named three new additions to its leadership team.

Brian Rogers has joined rue21 as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Responsible for directing all of the people functions of the Company, Mr Rogers will report to Chief Executive Officer, Michael C. Appel. With over 30 years of human resources leadership experience, Mr Rogers comes to rue21 from Ascena Retail Group, Inc. where he was for nearly seven years, serving most recently as Senior Vice President Human Resources Corporate. He also held leadership positions as Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition and Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of the Justice Tween Brands division. Prior to Ascena, Mr. Rogers was with L Brands where he served as Vice President, International Human Resources for four years and Vice President, Human Resources for nearly four years. He began his career as a Human Resources Director at Nike and Human Resources Manager as Deutsche Post AG.

Robert Brous has joined rue21 as Vice President e-Commerce and Digital. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Michael C. Appel, Mr Brous is responsible for leading a team focused on managing all digital and e-Commerce growth initiatives including the online marketing, planning, operations, implementation, and management of rue21's e-Commerce business channel. Mr. Brous joins rue21 from Spencer Gifts' Spirit Halloween, where he was Senior Director e-Commerce for four years. Prior to Spencer, he was Vice President, e-Commerce and Marketing at EmpireCovers.com. Mr Brous began his career at Budd Leather as Vice President, Business Development.

Michael Cingolani has joined rue21 as Vice President of Guys Merchandising, responsible for developing and implementing merchandise strategy for all merchandise categories within Guys. He reports to Karen Pinney, rue21's Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer. Mr. Cingolani joins rue21 from Tillys where for nearly five years he was Division Merchandising Manager for Men's and Boys Apparel. Prior to Tillys he was a Senior Buyer for Apparel, Footwear & Accessories for CCS/Foot Locker.com and Merchandise Manager Men's at Lands' End. He has also held various positions in merchandising at PacSun, Kohl's and American Eagle Outfitters.

In making today's announcement, Michael C. Appel, rue21's Chief Executive Officer said, "One of our key initiatives in rebuilding rue21 has been to upgrade and strengthen our management team throughout the entire organization both at headquarters and in the field. With the addition of highly- skilled and experienced leaders such as Brian, Robert, and Michael we continue our strategy to build a world-class management group as we build the rue21 franchise."

"As we successfully grow our business, our collaborative culture enables the organization to manage the business real time and both anticipate and react to the fast-changing junior marketplace so we can give our customers great on- trend fashion at amazing value. With this strong leadership team in place we will continue to drive the positive momentum of our Girls business, while focusing on further strengthening Men's, Etc., and Plus in 2019."

About rue21 rue21, the pioneer of fast fashion, offers stylish apparel and accessories for guys, girls and plus sizes at prices everyone can love. Built on the belief that everyone should look and feel great with what they wear, rue21 bridges fashion and value for their consumers. Headquartered just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rue21 currently operates 698 stores in 45 states and online at www.rue21.com.