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IN THE NEWS New Year Nails MARY VAN PRAAG GEORGE SCHAEFFER This month marks the start of a new chapter for OPI (opi.com) as Mary van Praag steps into her newly appointed role of CEO. Van Praag, who served as vice president of sales at Coty (OPI's parent company) in New York from 2008 to 2011, and was subsequently promoted to general manager of Coty Canada, is taking over from founder and former CEO George Schaeffer. Schaeffer retired at the end of December, but will continue to work with OPI as a strategic board adviser. Prior to joining the Coty family, van Praag worked for Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Pfizer and Playtex Products. "I'm deeply honored that Coty's leadership has chosen me to oversee the OPI brand, especially during this crucial time in the brand's history," said van Praag. "I'm eager to start my new role and working with George and Suzi [Weiss-Fischmann] to propel the OPI brand towards new levels of growth." Schaeffer, originally from Hungary, founded OPI in 1981. Under his leadership, the brand grew into a nail products leader, revolutionizing the industry with its technological advances and creative innovations. In late 2010, OPI was acquired by beauty industry giant Coty, and Schaeffer remained onboard as CEO. These are not the only changes the nail company has seen. In November, former OPI president John Heffner stepped down from the brand to join California hair service company DryBar as CEO. The departures of Heffner and Schaeffer from OPI were reportedly unrelated. dayspamagazine.com/freeinfo • Use FreeInfo #27 96 DAYSPA | JANUARY 2014