This is what Patti just sent... the "hunger games" post said Nata will be Chief Merchant Officer but that is not true. Also, we are not losing many strong DBM's... :(
Will someone please share the Region/Division email org announcement?
To: Macy’s Merchandising Colleagues
From: Patti Ongman, Chief Merchandising Officer
Merchandising Organizational Update
Dear colleagues,
As you know from other communications, today we announced an enterprise-wide restructuring. I want to share more detail with you on how this impacts the Merchandising organization.
In February, we announced changes that would reset both our growth model and our cost base, addressing the unhealthy parts of our business, and investing in growth strategies that we know will work. For Merchandising, that meant doubling down on categories that matter most, driving financial performance, and offering the very best brands and fashion to our customer. We also reorganized the structure of our teams to create more agility and role clarity, with accountability centered around our divisional leaders.
One month later, the impact of COVID-19 caused us to close stores and put the majority of our colleagues on furlough. A very small group of colleagues remained on board throughout that time, and I’m grateful for their dedicated, around-the-clock work to keep our business moving forward.
The unfortunate reality is it will be some time before we are able to fully recover the financial impact on the Macy’s, Inc. business and we are once again faced with making difficult decisions that impact our organization.
I want to share a few details around these changes:
Senior Leadership
We have realigned our senior leadership, led by three General Business Managers (GBMs) instead of four, who will continue to report to me and lead the following categories:
· Nata Dvir, GBM of Beauty, Center Core, and STORY
· Stephen Moore, GBM of Home, Leased, and Foods
· Mark Stocker, GBM of Apparel (RTW, Men’s and Kids)
Divisional Business Manager
Fifteen Divisional Business Managers will continue to be both business owner and functional expert responsible for each category of the business.
Buyer and Assortment Director
Our Buying team will remain the key curator of product and liaison to the vendor community, in addition to expanded Private Brand strategy and line creation work previously led by the Product teams. Our Assortment Directors will continue to be responsible for determining the breadth and depth of the assortment framework.
Private Brands
We have further eliminated duplication within the Private Brands team to build upon our sourcing/development capability, while ensuring our Private Brands are best aligned to our assortment strategy. Our Merchant and Design teams will continue to be responsible for line development and assortment architectures, while the Supply Chain team will take on merchandise production, ensuring we are bringing the best products to our customers at elevated margins.
Pricing Strategy
Heather Barrow, Vice President of Pricing Strategy, will lead a reduced team who will continue to manage POS and PERM execution in both channels in order to maximize sales and margin through simplified pricing strategies.
Merchant Operations
Richard Gentile, Vice President of Merchant Operations will lead a reduced team utilizing systems and reporting to fully support and enable speed and precision throughout the merchant end-to-end process.
Fashion Office
Durand Guion, Vice President of the Fashion Office, will lead a reduced team collaborating cross-functionally to drive fashion direction for the brand.
Foods Division
Led by Tom Leuer, National Director of Foods, this department remains an important part of our in-store experience, with a business model that will continually evolve to meet our customer’s changing needs.
Backstage
Michelle Israel, SVP of Off-Price for Macy’s, Inc. will continue to lead the Backstage merchandising team. Karen Garrett Vice President, Backstage Stores, will report into the Stores organization.
The format and merchandising for STORY will evolve with our gifting strategy. Moving forward, the STORY footprint will be managed by the stores in which they operate, and the STORY merchandising team will report into Nata Dvir. As part of this transition, Rachel Shechtman will be leaving Macy’s. Rachel has been an outstanding member of the team, and we thank her for bringing us fresh thinking and a unique approach to experiential retail.
The GOB Strategy team has been eliminated. With this change, Pam Leal, VP of GOB Strategy will be leaving the company. Pam has been an incredibly valued member of the Macy’s family, please join me in thanking her for her many years of dedicated service.
Additionally, a new Merchandise Planning and Inventory Management team has been created by merging parts of Merchandise Finance, Inventory Management, and Field Planning. The Integrated Planning team will be part of the Supply Chain group and will continue to work closely with my team and Felicia’s Finance organization.
In making these changes for our organization, difficult decisions about good people were necessary, and we are saying goodbye to many great colleagues and close friends, including Susan Kaindl, Jeremy Lambert, Sam Lindsay, Ashley Wang and Holly White. I am inspired by the incredible work our team has pulled off in a very challenging time and want to thank each and every one of you for your tireless dedication.
I understand you have received a lot of information today and I’m certain many of you will have questions. I will host a Town Hall on Wednesday, July 8 at 4pm. An invitation will be shared in the coming days and I would encourage everyone to participate. Additionally, FAQs are available on the microsite and new organization charts related to the changes announced will be available soon.
While these are very difficult times, I believe in our organization and am committed to supporting you as we forge forward together.
Thank you,
Patti