Retail in Asia

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Macy’s Inc. appoints new president, names new merchandising head

Macy's appoints new president and merchandising head - Retail in Asia

American retailer Macy’s Inc. has named Hal Lawton president of its Macy’s division, with Jeff Kantor named head of Macy’s merchandising.

Lawton was previously senior vice president of eBay North America and joins Macy’s on September 8. He assumes responsibility for all aspects of the Macy’s brand including merchandising, marketing, retail, operations, technology, and consumer insights and analytics.

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He will report to Macy’s Inc. chief executive officer Jeff Gennette, who has relinquished the president’s title to Lawton. Before eBay, Lawton worked at Home Depot and McKinsey & Co.

The restructuring will merge three units – merchandising, planning and private brands – into one division, which will be led by Chief Stores Officer Jeff Kantor.

The appointments come as Macy’s reorganises its team in a bid to accelerate operational change, intensify data analysis capability and streamline the structure, according to Gennette in an interview.

“Hal Lawton — he’s got this deep experience at the intersection of technology and retail. And, we are massively simplifying our approach to merchandising with structural and talent changes. We are combining three organizations — merchandising planning, private brands and merchandising national brands — into one, with one single leader, Jeff Kantor,” Gennette told WWD.

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“We will accelerate our progress and get Macy’s winning again.”

In combining the three organizations, some 100 Macy’s Inc. employees will lose their jobs, including Tim Baxter, Macy’s chief merchandising officer, whose last day will be September 6.

Macy’s Inc. expects to save about $30 million annually, some of which may be used for reinvestment in the business.