Dive Brief:
-
Bath & Body Works on Wednesday said that Julie Rosen, who joined the company four years ago, is no longer president of retail, and that the role has been eliminated. In a nonexecutive role until about Oct. 22, she will be available to help transition her responsibilities.
-
She has overseen stores, store design and international product functions, including merchandising, design, planning and allocation. Most of those functions now report to CEO Gina Boswell, per a company press release.
-
Until her separation date in October, Rosen will receive compensation based on her current agreement, per an SEC filing. According to the company’s 2024 proxy statement, her total annual compensation topped $5 million.
Dive Insight:
Bath & Body Works said that this decision was mutual, with Boswell thanking Rosen for her contributions. She also stated that the retailer is prepared for the holidays and, more broadly, for operations under more streamlined leadership.
“Having made significant progress in fortifying our operating foundation and building our platform for long-term, sustainable growth, we believe that now is the right time for this change and that we will benefit from accelerated decision-making as a flatter organization,” Boswell said in a statement.
BMO Capital Markets analysts led by Simeon Siegel said that Rosen, whose experience includes Ann Taylor, Loft and Gap Inc., was “well-liked and talented.” Yet the move is understandable, not just due to what he called the “incremental savings” it will provide. Based on Rosen’s $5 million in compensation in fiscal 2023, $7.8 million in fiscal 2022 and $4.1 million in fiscal 2021, the position was “high-paying,” Siegel noted.
“We do not expect this decision reflected concerns over product or performance but was rather coming from a company view of feeling stable enough to remove a position they deemed duplicative,” he said in emailed comments Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the retailer reiterated the guidance it released in August for full-year net sales to range between a 2% to 4% decline, including a 100-basis-point headwind from last year’s extra week. That was adjusted from the initial guidance released in February for flat sales to a 3% decline compared to last year’s $7.4 billion.
