Dive Brief:
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Teen apparel retailer Aeropostale's EVP of merchandising, Emilia Fabricant, is leaving, the company said Friday.
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The merchandising team will report directly to CEO Julian Geiger and there are no immediate plans to find a replacement, according to the company.
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The company's stock, which has lost almost half its value so far this year, fell further on the news.
Dive Insight:
With the recession, the rise of cheap fast fashion, and the changing tastes and desires of the young consumer, the three A’s — American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Aeropostale — in the business of selling apparel to teenagers and young adults have been faltering in recent years. Changes to merchandising have been key for all three, and so far among them American Eagle is the only one that has found much traction. Aeropostale, for its part, this year began closing stores and mixing up merchandise as part of its turnaround plan.
"Over the past ten months, we have carefully instituted structural changes to our organization that enabled us to balance levels of responsibility and to run our business more effectively. In conjunction with these changes, I believe that the strength of our senior design and merchandising teams positions us well on our path to profitability," CEO Julian Geiger said in a statement.
But Fabricant’s departure may be a sign that the retailer is not ready for the all-important back-to-school season, Jeffries retail analyst Randal Konik told Marketwatch.