Platt Out of CMS Direct

MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT has learned that Doug Platt is leaving Minneapolis, MN-based database solution provider CMS Direct, effective Aug. 4. Platt is CEO of the company’s Prefer Network catalog co-op database. Prefer Network’s general manager Bill Luth, a former marketing executive for the Figi’s and Fingerhut catalogs, will assume Platt’s responsibilities, according to Andy Johnson, president of CMS Direct. Platt, who is vacationing and could not be reached for comment, cofounded New York-based Prefer Network with Sydney Herman-Hunter in spring 1999. In September 2001, Prefer Network was purchased by St. Paul, MN-based database services provider Catalog Marketing Services (CMS). The merger was completed in January 2005, and the combined company renamed CMS Direct.