Employee Communications and Engagement Strategist
Employee Communications and Engagement Strategist
Dear EILEEN FISHER community,
Today we have some difficult news to share. After many thoughtful conversations and considerations, we have made a series of tough decisions related to restructuring our Retail leadership and reducing the number of layers within our field structure.
For 32 years, we have enjoyed strong to moderate revenue growth, but this growth has slowed over time.
In 2016, our Company experienced better than expected profitability, but it was achieved by reducing operating expense and our cost of goods. Revenue declined.
Our 2017 revenue plan is $6 million more than our 2016 plan, but wholesale (which is still a larger part of our business) is showing a slight decrease in revenue, putting more pressure on our Direct to Consumer business (our stores and ecommerce).
From 2010 to 2016, out of $40 million revenue growth, $20 million was from Web, $10 million was from our Retail stores (net Web returns), and $10 million was from our Company stores. So the majority of our growth is coming from our online and value sector channels.
In response, we’ve spent the last two years building a vision for the Company that includes creating a sustainable business model where our Direct to Consumer business (our stores and ecommerce) can be a more significant profit contributor to the Company.
Today’s Announcement
These considerations have led us to make the very difficult decision to eliminate two layers of management in Retail and consolidate eight districts into six. The specific details around these changes are as follows:
We are eliminating the position of Vice President of Retail & Global Development, held by Karen Gray. Karen will be leaving the role on Jan. 27, and she will continue working with the Company until June 2, supporting the transition and working on discrete projects related to Retail objectives.
Avery Casper-Filbin will remain as our Director of Stores and she will report directly to Jim Gundell.
We are eliminating the Regional Director position, held by Jeannie Mong and Karen King. Jeannie and Karen will become District Directors, joining four other District Leaders.
District Leaders Ramona Abbasian, Rebecca Kleister and Tracy Mur will now become Area Leaders based out of University Village, Tysons Galleria and an NYC store TBD, respectively. Joan Kaufman, District Leader of New England, has left the company.
Danielle Fulton of University Village and Rhonda Fleming-Landrum of Tysons Galleria, have left the company.
This is extremely tough news to share, and we know that it brings with it a range of emotions. This group of people has contributed so much to our organization and it is difficult to say goodbye to individuals we love and respect. We’ve been having a series of in-person conversations with Retail employees directly affected by these changes, and in the next couple of months, we’ll be out in the field visiting stores so we can hear what is on their minds and continue to update them on what is happening.
What’s Next
Going forward, we need to encourage greater alignment and connection between our stores and Retail leadership in support of our “Direct to Consumer” long-term strategy. Our plan is to invest in areas that will bring us closer to our customer, so we can serve her what she wants, where she wants it and when she needs it. We feel confident that our Retail leadership structure will support this strategy.
We know how important it is to continue to keep you engaged with the evolution of our business in a thoughtful way. Please feel free to reach out to any of us directly and/or share your reactions anonymously by filling out a brief survey here. To read a Q&A on this announcement, click here.
Sincerely,
Facilitating Leader Team (Eileen, Candice, Jim, Jonci, Ken, Lori, Mariclare, Rebecca and Ted)