Zale Corporation, a leading specialty retailer of fine jewelry in North America announced the streamlining of its corporate organization that begins with the centralization of support functions for the moderate brands.
CEO Betsy Burton commented, “Over the past 12 months we have closely examined all aspects of our operations, looking for opportunities for operational improvement as well as the streamlining of corporate support."
"We believe there are significant synergies and efficiencies to be gained by the elimination of redundancies and more teaming across brands. We are starting with the consolidation of support functions across the moderate brands as an important step in achieving this goal.”
Among the organizational changes is the promotion of Steve Lang to Group Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer, as head of a new centralized merchandising organization. Buying for all of the moderate brands (Zales, Gordon's, Zales Outlet and Peoples/Mappins) will be consolidated under Lang.
He will report directly to CEO Betsy Burton. Last year the Company moved to a centralized sourcing organization which will continue to be led by Gil Hollander, Group Senior Vice President and Chief Sourcing Officer, also reporting to Burton.
The Company further stated that Zale has engaged an executive search firm to initiate a search for the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer. Beginning with the moderate brands, there will no longer be separate brand presidents. Store operations will report to Burton until the Chief Operating Officer position is filled.
The Company went on to say that John Zimmermann, President of Zale North America, has left the Company. Burton remarked, “We want to thank John for his many contributions, hard work and dedication to the Company. We wish him continued success in his career.”
marketing@alchempro.com
