NEW YORK — Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. promoted Wayne Meichner to president and chief operating officer of the Polo Retail Group.

Meichner was most recently president of Polo Ralph Lauren Retail Stores, and prior to joining Polo in 2002, had worked for Saks Fifth Avenue for 23 years, ultimately rising through the ranks to become the retailer’s executive vice president of merchandising.

At Polo, he replaced Jeff Sherman who retired. Meichner will now be in charge of managing and developing the company’s domestic retail concepts, and oversee the sales and support operations of the company’s growing store network, ranging from Ralph Lauren to Polo Factory, Rugby and RRL stores as well as RalphLauren.com. In addition, Meichner will be in charge of Polo Retail Group’s shared services support group.

Meichner reports to Polo chairman and chief executive officer Ralph Lauren and president and chief operating officer Roger Farah.

“His 30 years of experience in luxury merchandising and retail store operations is a compelling asset as we continue to invest in our direct to consumer operations around the world,” Farah said.

With Meichner’s move, Polo promoted Susie Coulter to president of Polo Ralph Lauren Retail Stores. Coulter was previously senior vice president and general merchandise manager of Ralph Lauren’s retail operations in the U.S. and Europe.

In her new role, Coulter will oversee the management of Polo Ralph Lauren’s 59 domestic Ralph Lauren stores. Coulter, who joined Polo in 1998, reports to Meichner. “Susie’s proven track record of strong leadership and management skills has been an integral part of the success of our global retail operations,” Farah said.

For complete coverage, see Wednesday's WWD.