Dive Brief:

• Macy’s is creating new top positions—chief growth officer and chief strategy, analytics, and innovation officer—in a concerted move to climb out of its quarters-long funk, the company said Monday.

• Peter Sachse, who most recently has been chief innovation and business development officer, will now be chief growth officer, tasked with coordinating the retailer’s merchants with the needs of its new off-price Backstage stores and its new Bluemercury spa and beauty concessions and with its overseas operations. Sachse himself worked at the company as a merchant before becoming an executive there; he’s also served as CMO and CEO of macys.com. 

• Former Ann Inc executive Justin MacFarlane will take on some of Sachse’s duties as the company’s new chief strategy, analytics, and innovation officer. He will also pump up Macy’s use of research and analytics and develop new business venture ideas using customer data. Both executives will report to Jeff Gennette, president of Macy’s and the presumptive next CEO.

Dive Insight:

As Fortune notes, Macy’s survived the recession, only to buckle under more chronic problems in the years since then. Its position as a middle-tier department store meant that shoppers, still wary to spend, went there for bargains. As a result, there is rarely not a sale at Macy’s. Indeed, while its Backstage stores are an answer to the success of off-price stores like TJ Maxx, the retailer already provides good merchandise, often at discounted prices. It’s hard to know if the Backstage move will really allow the flagship stores to finally end their penchant for constant sales, or simply shift sales away from those flagship stores.

Meanwhile, Macy’s has long embraced the omnichannel model with same-day delivery and other services, and embraced technology like beacons. But bringing in a young (MacFarlane is just 43) innovation and data chief from the outside could perhaps help figure out which of its moves are working, which aren’t, and why.

Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry J. Lundgren hinted in his statement that the retailer is being forced to re-evaluate its approach in light of changing consumer spending patterns.

“These two new positions will enable us to move farther and faster in stimulating profitable sales growth in our company,” he said in a statement. “Each role is critical to our ability to position the company’s brands for success in a consumer marketplace that continues to evolve in profound new directions for omnichannel retailing.”