Online diamond jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc has appointed Julie Yoakum Chief Merchandising Officer effective June 25, 2012. Yoakum will report to Blue Nile President and Chief Executive Officer Harvey Kanter. She will lead the Seattle-based company's merchandising strategy, including trend identification, product design, sourcing, and inventory planning and management.

Yoakum combines more than 20 years of experience in merchandising and product design and development with strong creative, leadership, and business skills. She started her career at Eddie Bauer, where she spent nearly 18 years rising through the merchandising ranks in progressively increasing roles and becoming the Executive Vice President of Merchandising, Product Development, and Sourcing. In that role, Yoakum oversaw a team of 300 and was responsible for a US$1 billion business leading product strategy that underscored Eddie Bauer's brand proposition across more than 500 retail stores, as well as the company's catalog, online, apparel, and outlet businesses.

Most recently, Yoakum was Account Service Director at Hornall Anderson Design Work, Seattle, WA, managing projects for the firm's top Fortune 500 companies including Starbucks Coffee Company, The Hershey Company, McKesson Corporation, The Limited, and Del Monte Foods.

"Julie's broad trend expertise combined with her deep experience in assortment planning and merchandising will guide and evolve our product strategy to position Blue Nile as the world's leading online fine jeweler and as one of the greatest brands in the jewelry category," says Blue Nile President and Chief Executive Officer Harvey Kanter.