Ascena announces organizational changes and executive appointments

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Oct 6, 2016

Ascena Retail Group announced on Tuesday the beginning of the execution of its transformation plan and “Change for Growth” profit enhancement program. The company has restructured its business into four operating segments, made changes to its executive team and created a new Brand Services (aBS) team that will assume responsibilities for its existing Shared Services Group functions.

 
The Change for Growth program is intended to increase Ascena’s focus on key customer segments, improve its time-to-market, reduce working capital and enhance its ability to serve its customer on any purchasing platform, all while better leveraging the company’s powerful shared services platform.

Ascena created four operating segments—Premium Fashion, Plus Fashion, Value Fashion and Kids Fashion—in order to better serve its customer. Premium Fashion is comprised of Ann Taylor, Loft and Lou & Grey; Plus Fashion includes Lane Bryant and Catherines; Maurices and Dressbarn make up Value Fashion and Justice is for Kids Fashion.

David Jaffe, President and CEO of ascena retail group commented, “Our Change for Growth program is designed to ensure Ascena is lean, agile and playing to win. Through this transformation work, we expect to deliver incremental cost savings of $100 to $150 million by fiscal 2019. We will continue to work aggressively on customer-facing capability and operating efficiencies to drive benefits on both the margin and cost side of our financials, and we believe there is additional opportunity beyond what we have highlighted today as we continue our transformation work with Accenture.”
 
In addition to the organizational changes, Ascena made numerous executive appointments. Justice President and CEO Brian Lynch has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Ascena; Linda Heasley, Lane Bryant President and CEO, has been appointed President and CEO of Ascena’s Plus Fashion segment and Maurices President and CEO George Goldfarb has been named President and CEO of the company’s Value Fashion segment. Gary Muto, President and CEO of the Ann brands, will retain responsibility for the Ann Taylor, LOFT, and Lou & Grey brands, which now comprise the Premium Fashion segment.