Macy’s to cut 100 jobs, hires Hal Lawton as President

Macy's has announced several changes to improve the company's performance, which include the hiring of Hal Lawton as President, the creation of a single simplified merchandising organization and an enhanced focus on the company's data analytics capabilities. The company said, Lawton to join Macy's on September 8, 2017, will be responsible for all aspects of the Macy's brand, including merchandising, marketing, stores, operations, technology, and consumer insights and analytics. He will report to Jeff Gennette, Macy's Chief Executive Officer.

Meanwhile, with the restructuring process, the company anticipates it will save approximately 30 million dollars on an annual basis, some of which may be used for reinvestment in the business and savings of around 5 million dollars in the fourth quarter, which the company said is additive to previously provided earnings guidance. The company also expects that these actions will result in a headcount reduction of approximately 100.

Macy’s appoints Hal Lawton as President

"Hal Lawton has deep expertise at the intersection of retail and technology, a diverse set of business experiences that give him a unique perspective, and a track record of successfully driving a change agenda at scale. I'm thrilled that he has chosen to join Macy's," said Gennette in a statement commenting on Lawton’s appointment.

Macy’s added in a statement that as SVP of eBay North America, Lawton was responsible for all aspects of eBay's Americas business unit and oversaw a period of sustained, sequential performance improvement.

"At a time when there is both dramatic change and great potential in retail, I'm excited to be part of the team that will shape the future of the Macy's brand and, along with it, consumer expectations of what a great omni-channel experience can be," said Lawton, adding, "I look forward to working with Jeff, the management team and Macy's associates across the country."

Prior to joining eBay, Lawton spent 10 years in various leadership roles at Home Depot, where he was most recently SVP for merchandising. While at Home Depot, he was responsible for jump-starting homedepot.com and building it into around 2 billion dollars business.

Macy’s restructures merchandising operations

The company also announced the restructuring of its merchandising operations and the strengthening of its consumer insights and data analytics capabilities. The restructuring includes consolidation of merchandising, planning and private brands into a single merchandising function to be led by Jeff Kantor and organized around five 'families-of-business' such as ready-to-wear, center core, beauty, men's and kid's and home.

"Macy's best merchants will be in the right structure to operate at the speed of our customer and will be fuelled by the power of data," said Gennette, adding, "Macy's has long been known for innovation and excellence in merchandising. The changes we are making today maintain our core merchandising skills while massively simplifying our structure and processes for greater speed and flexibility. We are also further strengthening our consumer insights and data analytics capabilities so we can make better decisions faster, balancing the art and science of retail."

Kantor, the company said, is a 35-year Macy's veteran, with extensive experience in merchandising and stores and also successfully oversaw Macys.com. Currently, he serves as chief stores and human resources officer. Kantor will report to Lawton.

Picture:Facebook/Macy's