Holly Rush (l) and Fabrizio Uguzzoni.
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NEW YORK—After five years leading the North American wholesale organization for Luxottica, Holly Rush will leave the company at the end of this year, VMail has learned. “Holly has made a personal decision to step away from her role as president of the division,” the company said.

Fabrizio Uguzzoni, currently SVP of operations and finance, who has worked alongside Rush to grow the business and elevate the customer experience, will step into the role of president on Jan. 1, according to a Luxottica spokesperson.

"This has been an incredible five-year journey for me,” Rush told VMail. “Luxottica gave me the chance to break barriers not only for the industry but for myself and I'm really proud of that. I've had the chance to build a world class team of amazing people and we've made a real impact in the market. That's a once in a lifetime experience.”

She added, “Having worked closely with Fabrizio for the past two years, I have seen his passion for our business and his ability to take what we've built—the relationships, the brands and the sense of community—and make it even stronger. I know he shares my vision for how we serve the market and lead through these changing times, and the company is truly in the best of hands."

Uguzzoni has been a senior leader within the Luxottica organization for the past six years. He has deep experience in the areas of operations, finance, customer service, logistics and IT. Before joining the NA wholesale team two years ago, Uguzzoni was the Group’s logistics director. In that role, he reported to Massimo Vian, now co-CEO of Luxottica Group (NYSE:LUX) and Uguzzoni led logistics around the globe for Luxottica’s wholesale and retail businesses.

Prior to his involvement at Luxottica, Uguzzoni held key positions at Whirlpool, including sourcing director for Europe and head of procurement for the Dishwashing Product Group. He also managed logistics and procurement for Bayer in Europe. The company pointed out that he has extensive global experience, having lived and worked in Belluno/Agordo and Milan, Germany, Poland, New York, Atlanta and other cities throughout his 20-year career.

Uguzzoni told VMail, "Holly has made significant contributions to the company in her time here. She is leaving the business in fantastic shape with a deep leadership bench to support future growth. This is a dream opportunity for me. I'm truly driven by our mission to deliver best-in-class brands and customer service, and to do so with a greater sense of purpose. I see it as a long but rewarding journey we're all on together."

Rush was promoted to the role of president of Luxottica Wholesale’s NA business in December 2013, as VMail reported. She oversaw Luxottica’s wholesale distribution network in both the U.S. and Canada, reporting to Paolo Alberti, executive vice president of wholesale for the Luxottica Group. She joined Luxottica as senior vice president sales in March 2011 after having spent nearly two decades in a variety of sales leadership roles with major blue chip companies, most recently with L’Oreal. In 2012, Rush was named as one of Vision Monday's Most Influential Women in Optical.