J-Crew Site Crashed During Inauguration Crush

When news spread on Inauguration Day that the Obama Girls, Sasha and Malia were wearing Crew-cuts, the children's line from J-Crew, I decided to go on to the J-Crew site to take a look at the pieces. Well, millions of other people must have had the same idea because the site was down when I went on. Now I've been a J-Crew shopper for years and the site is never down. I e-mailed a friend that works at J-Crew and she was surprised it was down, but my geek squad confirmed that the site had crashed due to the amount of traffic.

That Mickey Drexler is always one step ahead!!

Layoffs at Lord & Taylor, Saks & Neimans

Layoffs across the retail industry are accelerating. In just the latest round, Lord & Taylor let go of 170 people on Friday. But more cuts could come soon at L&T as a result of a broad consolidation strategy being formulated by the company's parent, NRDC Equity Partners, involving combining back office functions to save costs and gain efficiencies. NRDC also owns Fortunoff and Creative Design Studios, and in Canada, The Bay, Zellers, Home Outfitters and Fields.

At Lord & Taylor, sources said the job cuts were across the board through the chain and were in addition to the store’s 120 layoffs that occurred last October. Combined, the 290 positions represent about 3.5 percent of the chain’s total workforce of 9,000.

In the midst of the deepening recession, job cuts have become standard procedure at many retail companies. Earlier this week, Neiman Marcus announced 375 job cuts, representing about 3 percent of its workforce.

Even more dramatic was the announcement Thursday at Saks Fifth Avenue that 1,100 jobs at stores and headquarters, or 9 percent of its workforce, is being eliminated. Some of Saks’ more visible figures are departing in the wave of layoffs, including Michael Fink, vice president and women’s fashion director, who’s been a regular at the designer shows, a frequent participant in industry forums and widely quoted in the fashion media.

Also leaving Saks is Leslie Langsam Kennedy, the director of public relations; Gina Giordano, senior vice president and regional director of Saks stores in the Northeast, and Jan Richter, the creative director, who also held the title of senior vice president.

A Saks spokeswoman confirmed the departures and said their duties are being reassigned.

Many Saks sales associates are being let go because the stores are considered overstaffed in light of the dwindling shopping traffic and declining number of transactions in the last several months.

Saks is also cutting inventories and capital expenditures and eliminating merit-based wage increases and 401 [k] matching contributions this year. The company expects to save $50 to $60 million as a result of all the cutbacks.

2009 Buzz Word: Post Racial

I know we are only 13 days into the new year, but could the word of the year be "post racial", (i know it's two words, but you get my meaning). I was at a comedy club on Saturday Night and the comedian on stage, a black comic, used the term at least 3-4 times in a snippet of his act.
As I was watching the Golden Globes on Sunday I also noticed Tracy Morgan used the term as well. Although Tracy used the term in jest, it got me to thinking. Is a Post-Racial America a better America? Is it a realistic goal for the country?
Tell me what you think

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On The Move...

Paul Deneve, CEO of Lanvin, has left the company.

Nicole Beland, previously features director of Women's Health magazine, has been named executive editor of Cosmo.

Chris McLoughlin, previously publisher of Golf for Women, has been named associate publisher of REDBOOK.

Charlotte Adjchavanich has been named vice president, global public relations, for Jurlique.

Casey Sangmeister has been named manager of U.S. public relations for Jurlique. The company will no longer retain the services of its agency of record, LaForce + Stevens.

Sérgio Pedreiro, previously CFO of América Latina Logistica, has been named CFO of Coty, Inc., following former CFO Michael Fishoff's departure at the end of last month.

Diego Marchioni is the new CEO of KidRobot.

Marissa Rubenstein is now an account executive at Style House PR; she was formerly with Dana Galin Jewelry.

Chelsea O'Donnell has left her position as a senior account supervisor with 5W Public Relations, due to a move to Sydney.

Lauren Branche is now the in-house media & consumer relations manager at Carol's Daughter.

Vanessa Poskanzer has resigned as president of KSVP Media & Events, Inc.

Also...

MML PR announces its representation of NYX Cosmetics,Tela Beauty Organics, Greek yogurt Chobani, makeup artist Christy Coleman and nutritionist Ashley Koff.

Blue Sky Communications announces its represention of ANSR, an at-home phototherapy device for treating acne, created by Oregon Aesthetic Technologies.

Janice McCafferty Communications-Houston announces its representation of LiLash.

Alison Brod Public Relations announces its representation of Liz Lange Maternity and Hanky Panky.

Bismarck Phillips Communications and Media announces its representation of Tadashi Shoji.

Bismarck Phillips Communications and Media, Los Angeles, announces its representation of Hugo Boss and Escada.

Black Frame announces it will be working closely with Nike Sportswear on communications in the United States.

BrandStyle Communications announces its representation of Hunter boots.

Denise Williamson Showroom announces its representation of Raf by Raf Simons.

Laura Henson Consulting announces its representation of Bibhu Mohapatra (former design director of J. Mendel), KIR Jewelry, Robert Comstock Menswear and Armand de Brignac.

Shadow PR announces its representation of Treesje handbags.

Starworks announces its representation of Jasmine di Milo for both PR and celebrity services in the New York and Los Angeles offices.

TLCommunications announces its representation of Yes To Carrots.

Wetherly Fashion Group announces its representation of signed Randi Rahm Couture.

Linda Gaunt Communications is no longer the agency of record for Christian Cota.

FASHION BAILOUT: THE OBAMAS

Some disappointing news came out today regarding the retail industry. Saks down 19% in December, Neimans down 31% and Chicos down 12%. Retail Sales in December were like being on a bad date and waiting for the check to arrive, retailers could not wait to just pay the bill and move on...fast. Why the rush to close out the season? Some see a retail bailout on the horizon. The Obamas.

Lets start with the girls. Monday was their first day of class at the prestigious Sidwell school. When Sahsa stepped out from the shadows of the presidential motorcade she had on a Primp hoodie. In today's WWD, Primp designer Wells Butler, was quoted as saying, "I screamed when I saw that she had on our peace sign printed hoodie." According to Wells, the hoodie was an exclusive to Bloomingdales, so we now know one of the Obamas favorite stores.

The president-elect has clothes, and it's being made by Hart Schaffner Marx. HSM outfitted Obama for his acceptance speech and fashion insiders, say that the company will also outfit Obama in a tux for the inaugural ball. HSM will also be rolling out an Obama inspired collection this Spring

Now we come to the first lady-elect. She is getting a lot of buzz about her fashion sense, case in point the Nightly News with Brian Williams did a piece on the first lady and how she can single handedly bail out the industry.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

GOING GREEN IS THE NEW GREEN

It's the new year and the Obama team is working hard to get the nation back on track. The buzz words I keep hearing from the new administration is green job and sustainability. Well, what is a "green job" and what does "sustainability" mean?

I was in 40 carrots, Bloomingdale's yesterday (the best carrot cake in NYC) having lunch with some friends from and we think the next great job growth is going to be in government related jobs and the green industry (sustainability), meaning industries where they produce a product and the by-product is something can be used again OR the materials needed come from "discarded" materials from within the sector.

This got me to thinking, will there be green jobs in the retail industry.

I let my fingers do the walking and came across some retailers that are look at going green to make some green.

Marks & Spencer, the prominent U.K. clothing, food and housewares retailer, launched an ambitious, five-year “eco plan” in January 2007 to force the organization of more than 75,000 workers spread globally to re-think the way it measures, manages and reports on social, environmental and ethical issues. Plan A, as Marks & Spencer calls it, is a voluminous pledge of 100 commitments that challenge the breadth of the organization on issues ranging from climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, fair partnering and health.

It includes goals for M&S to “become carbon-neutral, send no waste to landfill, extend sustainable sourcing, be a fair trading partner and help our customers and employees to lead healthier lifestyles,” according to CEO Stuart Rose.With 622 stores in the U.K., Marks & Spencer sources goods and services from 2,000 suppliers globally and is pushing an ever-expanding international business portfolio that includes ventures in India, Greece, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Influencing its business partners and suppliers to join in the effort is a tenet of Plan A. Rose says engaging suppliers, customers and employees is part of Plan A’s “virtuous circle” for ideas to advance progress and find solutions.

The company wants its business partners to approach environmental and social issues as opportunities for innovation rather than as a means to achieving rudimentary compliance.

Good for them. Here are some other green articles I came across. Click on the links to read the full story

Green Grows at Retail
Award-winning programs support Kohl’s green mission
Target takes a holistic approach to sustainability
Safeway switches truck fleet to biodiesel
Starbucks program supports ethical practices and sustainability
Wal-Mart brings associates, suppliers and other experts together
REI applies environmental sensibilities to store design
Whole Foods uses green tickets to purchase wind energy
Office Depot utilizes a wide pallet of earth-friendly initiatives
Consumers say they are becoming more environmentally aware – and expect retailers to do the same