Management

The president of Saks Fifth Avenue, Marigay McKee, stepped down Thursday after 15 months at the department store chain's helm. She was replaced by Marc Metrick, an executive at Saks’ parent company, Hudson's Bay. Ms. McKee joined Saks in 2014 after revitalizing the luxury London retailer Harrods. She pushed to modernize Saks, which had struggled with underperforming stores after overexpanding in the last decade. McKee said she would spend $1.25 billion over two years to refurbish stores and try to attract younger customers by adding more contemporary fashions and international labels.

Greg Foran, in his eighth month as the new president of the U.S. division of Wal-Mart, recently met with analysts to discuss his outlook for the company. The meeting, attended by more than 100 senior analysts, was a disappointment since it was mostly just a review of basic merchandising and procedures. There were few hard facts, and I think that Mr. Foran is in awe at running 4,500 stores — a fact he repeated several times. He didn't project the impression of a strong, confident manager. His theme was that he's proceeding slowly and cautiously to make changes.

American Apparel has started laying off about 180 employees, mainly in manufacturing, as part of a bid by its new chief executive to streamline the retailer's money-bleeding operations. The company has begun telling affected employees that their jobs are being eliminated, American Apparel chief Paula Schneider said late Tuesday in an interview. The layoffs touch almost every area of the production cycle in the United States, and all employees losing their jobs will be informed by Friday, Ms. Schneider said.

Sears Holdings Corp. will raise more than $2.5 billion by siphoning off 254 stores into a real estate investment trust, the struggling retailer said on Wednesday. The newly formed REIT, Seritage Growth Properties, will buy and lease back the Sears and Kmart stores. The company's decision to move forward with a REIT was anticipated, and represents another urgent effort to raise cash. The department store chain hasn't turned a profit for several years. It will fund the purchase, in part, with the money raised from shareholders through a rights offering.   

Nearly a year after being acquired by rival Men's Wearhouse in a contentious takeover struggle, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers will lay off 122 employees at the company's corporate headquarters in Hampstead, Md., a company spokesman said Monday. The layoffs represent about 15 percent of the 780 employees at what has been Carroll County's fourth-largest employer. The employees losing their jobs were duplicating work being performed at Men's Wearhouse offices in New York City and Fremont, Calif., said Men's Wearhouse spokesman Diego Louro, although he declined to specify the types of positions being eliminated.

Last week, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sent his employees the following memo, provided to Fast Company by Zappos. In it he offers his employees an ultimatum: adopt holacracy or quit. Here's the (very long) memo in its entirety:

Former Ann Taylor President Brian Lynch has been hired as the new president and CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based tween retailer Justice. Lynch replaces veteran retailer Michael Rayden, who retired at the end of January. Lynch most recently served as president of Ann Taylor Brand and previously served in various executive positions with ANN Inc.; Gap Inc.; Learningsmith Inc.; and The Walt Disney Co.

The breakup between American Apparel and Dov Charney keeps getting messier — and could get a lot more expensive, too. The struggling clothing company's controversial founder is claiming more than $40 million in damages stemming from his surprise ouster last year, even as the retailer this week disclosed a probe by securities regulators into the affair. Los Angeles lawyer Keith Fink — who, in a twist, had formerly represented American Apparel employees suing Charney for harassment — said in a letter last week that the retailer is liable for $20 million to $25 million in damages for Charney's loss of employment. 

eBay agreed to nominate one additional woman to its board of directors earlier this week in response to mounting public pressure for diversity. The appointment of American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern to the eBay board came partially in response to a shareholder proposal filed last November by a group of investors that includes New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Trillium Asset Management, according to a news release Thursday. eBay has hired two women to its previously all-male board since January — the other woman was NBC Universal Cable Entertainment chair Bonnie Hammer on Jan. 6. 

A strengthened omnichannel fulfillment model helped slow the pace of sales declines at Toys"R"Us last year, and now the retailer is looking to execute the next phases of its transformation strategy to restore profitable growth. The company spelled out details of its strategy on March 25 during an investor conference with presentations from Antonio Urcelay, chairman and CEO, Hank Mullany, president of Toys"R"Us, U.S., and Mike Short, executive vice president and CFO. During 2015, the company said its "TRU Transformation" strategy will focus on four key priorities: