New York—As part of a companywide reorganization, $1.4 billion multititle mailer Brylane is eliminating 5% of its executive workforce. President/CEO Russell Stravitz won’t reveal the number of layoffs that began taking place on July 10, but he notes that the executives being let go come from middle and senior management, mostly in the company’s New York headquarters.
But Stravitz says that improved efficiency and greater growth, not cost containment, are the reasons for the reorganization, although the cost savings from the layoffs will be “substantial.” The restructured Brylane consists of three divisions–special sizes, misses apparel, and home lifestyles—with shared management teams that will oversee marketing, inventory, and other functions for each market sector.
Executive vice president Kevin Doyle will run the special sizes group, which includes the Lane Bryant, Roamans, and King Size catalogs. The misses apparel group, consisting of Chadwick’s, Lerner, and Jessica London, will be managed an interim basis by Steve Goldberg, who is also president of the home lifestyles group, which had existed prior to the reorganization. The home lifestyles group currently consists of just the Brylane Home catalog, but Stravitz says the company will be adding other home-related titles this year, as vehicles to market to Brylane’s existing apparel customers.
Stravitz is searching for an executive to oversee the misses apparel group to enable Goldberg to focus solely on the home lifestyles group. Chief marketing officer Jules Silbert will remain in his corporate position overseeing all three units with Stravitz.