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Dive Brief:
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Loretta Choy, chief merchandising and client services officer for Stitch Fix, left the apparel box e-retailer on Friday, the company confirmed by email. The news was first reported by Women’s Wear Daily.
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An unnamed team of people is taking over Choy’s merchandising, styling and customer service duties on an interim basis, per the company’s email. They report directly to Stitch Fix CEO Matt Baer, who oversees their work, the company said.
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Choy worked in merchandising at Stitch Fix for over four years, starting in 2019 as general manager of women’s. In 2022, Choy became chief merchandising officer, and a couple months later took on the duties of chief client services officer, per LinkedIn. Before that Choy had stints at Old Navy and Levi’s.
Dive Insight:
Further leadership shakeup continues under Baer, who arrived from Macy’s about a year ago. The struggling apparel retailer, which relies on tech and human stylists to curate boxes of apparel for customers, has embarked on another transformation, after walking away from ill-fated changes that confused customers and hurt sales.
At least some of the shifts the company is contemplating appear to fall into Choy’s wheelhouse, both in merchandising and client services.
In a research note earlier this year, for example, William Blair analysts noted that Stitch Fix executives have been “candid that there have been times in the company’s history when it thought of itself perhaps too much as a technology company instead of an apparel retailer.” Stitch Fix, which has previously said it would lean into developing more of its own brands, aims for private labels to make up more than half of its assortment, according to that report.
The company’s new transformation team includes Tony Bacos, the former Amazon Fashion executive who arrived in November as chief product and technology officer. Bacos is likely to be skilled at leveraging the company’s technology to more effectively manage its merchandising, according to Liza Amlani, principal and co-founder of Retail Strategy Group.
Moreover, on a March call with analysts, Baer said the company would be unveiling a new customer experience, with changes to how Stitch Fix onboards new clients as well as how it interacts with existing customers. He offered few details and asked for patience, noting that the e-retailer is “in the midst of a transformation, and transformations do take time.”
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Daphne Howland, Khareem Sudlow
