Dive Brief:
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Following “a comprehensive review” of its organizational structure, Canada Goose is cutting its corporate roles by 17%, the luxury outerwear brand said on Tuesday.
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That includes some shakeup among executives, including the March 19 departure of Chief Operating Officer John Moran, per a company press release. Beth Clymer, who is president of finance, strategy and administration, will add operations to her role.
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Carrie Baker, president of brand and commercial, will expand her responsibilities to also include design, working closely with CEO Dani Reiss. And Chief Transformation Officer Daniel Binder will now also oversee global stores in addition to responsibilities in sales planning and operations.
Dive Insight:
This strategic review and realignment of resources come as Canada Goose faces declines, particularly in North America, challenged comp sales and slowing sales in China, even in cold weather favorable to sales of its gear.
The brand is realigning its teams to ensure its resources effectively fuel growth, Reiss said in a statement.
“We are focused on achieving efficiency and margin expansion, while investing in key initiatives – brand, design and best-in-class operations – that will powerfully position our iconic performance luxury brand to deliver long-term growth,” he said. “While the decision to reduce our workforce was difficult, it was the right decision to put our business in the best position for the future.”
In early 2023, the brand had announced it would double its brick-and-mortar footprint over five years. But a year on, after a disappointing Q3 report, Evercore analysts suggested that was likely to be scaled back.
That would mean pulling back at least somewhat on its direct-to-consumer ambitions. As at Nike, Canada Goose turned to direct-to-consumer sales to boost margins. In February Wells Fargo analysts led by Ike Boruchow said that Canada Goose’s DTC strategy “needs to be re-evaluated.”
Research from BMO Capital Markets analysts suggests that DTC isn’t always as lucrative as many brands believe, and that wholesale partnerships offer under-appreciated opportunities to boost both revenue and margins.
In recent days, Nike executives acknowledged flaws in its own DTC strategy and said that the brand needed to lean more on the wholesale channel. Last month on an earnings call with analysts, then-Canada Goose CFO Jonathan Sinclair listed “expanding our DTC presence in key markets” as one of the company’s strategic pillars.
Sinclair moved on to another role in November, when the brand also lowered its full-year outlook.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Daphne Howland, Khareem Sudlow
