Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) reported that Elliot S. Jaffe, the firm’s Co-Founder and also Non-Executive Chairman of the company’s Board notified his intention of not participating for re-election at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. He will also retire as a member of the Board and officer of the firm, effective at the close of this year Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
The highlights
Jaffe co-founded dressbarn back in 1962 and was a CEO until 2002. He was Chairman of the Ascena’s Board until January 2011, after which he transitioned to Non-Executive Chairman. David Jaffe, the CEO and President of Ascena, said that Jaffe’s leadership has offered the passion and vision to emerge from a single store to a family of brands. The company’s board thanks Jaffe for his outstanding commitment and leadership to their success.
Randy Pearce, the Lead Independent Director of Ascena, stated that Jaffe’s contributions to company are countless. He has offered outstanding thoughtful leadership and vision and they appreciate his service. Jaffe said that it has really been his life’s choice to serve company from its glorious beginning to the multi-billion-dollar brand as of today. He looks forward to seeing the firm as it continues to advance.
Development plans
After over 6 months of extensive planning, Ascena commenced the execution stage of its enterprise transformation plan. Besides the ongoing execution of $235 million cost-savings measure linked with its integration of ANN INC., the firm projects its new change for growth plan will offer an incremental $100 million to $150 million savings by FY2019. This plan will refine firm’s operating model to enhance its focus on major customer divisions, reduce working capital, improve its time-to-market and work on its ability to serve its clients on any purchasing platform. All these measures have to be done along with better leveraging of the firm’s powerful shared services platform.
Ascena is making substantial organizational changes under its accelerated execution program, and has reorganized its operations into 4 operating divisions – Premium Fashion, Plus Fashion, Value Fashion and Kids Fashion. The company reported the creation of Ascena Brand Services team, which will take the responsibilities for its current centralized Shared Services Group activities, including supply chain, IT, logistics and sourcing, as well as more brand support activities to be advanced through its Change for Growth plan.
