Obit: Tsum Chairman Andreas Schmeidler, 53Schmeidler took on the role of chairman of the Russian department store in 2016.

[Collection]Andreas Schmeidler, chairman of Tsum, died on Saturday after a long illness. He was 53. He leaves a son, Federico, aged 16. His sister, Emanuela, is also well-known in the industry, heading her own communications agency based in Milan. A funeral service will be held on Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. at Milan’s Cimitero Maggiore in the Jewish Musocco section. Andreas Schmeidler took on the role of chairman at Tsum, the largest department store in Eastern Europe, in 2016. Speaking to WWD in January, in the wake of Tsum’s 110th anniversary in 2017, he said he was set on investing in the department store, focusing on the Russian clientele and making sure the online experience was as compelling as the off-line one. “Our DNA is retail, and we need to develop that. We’re not about concessions — on the contrary. Our aim is to serve the brands and develop an exquisite store online and off-line, something unique to Tsum, unique to Moscow,” he said. Online retail also happened to be Schmeidler’s field of expertise, having consulted for Tsum on digital before taking up the chairman’s role. From 2010 to 2016, he served as Italy’s country manager for Vente-Privee, the French e-commerce company that specializes in

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