Lands' End plans layoffs
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January 12, 1999: 9:59 a.m. ET
Catalog retailer to cut 94 positions, take 4Q restructuring charge
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Lands' End, the catalog and online apparel retailer, says its staff has grown faster than its sales, which is why 94 of the company's 888 salaried positions are being eliminated.
The Dodgeville, Wis.-based company says more than a third of the positions are being eliminated through attrition. The rest, about 60, are being accomplished through an enhanced employee severance program that will contribute to a fiscal fourth-quarter restructuring charge.
The company says details of the charge will be announced later this week.
Lands' End (LE) also says it will liquidate its Willis & Geiger adventure clothing division because it has been unable to sell it. And it will close 3 of its 19 outlet stores in March, saying that it's more effective to reduce overstock through special catalogs and via the company's Internet site.
Company president David Dyer says that while Lands' End sales have risen 34 percent in the past four years, the total number of professional staff has risen by 58 percent.
"By organizing our core business into individual business units, there has been duplication of tasks and responsibilities that have not been supported by our sales growth," Dyer says. "By restructuring our organization into functional areas, not only will we be more efficient, we will also be much more effective."
Dyer was named president and chief executive in October after the sudden resignation of Michael Smith.
Lands' End stock traded early Monday at 25-1/16, unchanged.
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Lands' End
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