Abercrombie & Fitch

There’s been a top-level shakeup at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., with the company announcing a big promotion for one executive and the departure of another.

The retailer elevated the head of its Hollister brand, Fran Horowitz, to the newly created role of president and chief merchandising officer with responsibility for all brands. It also announced the departure of Christos Angelides, who has served as president of the Abercrombie brand since October 2014. And it said that it has suspended its active hunt for a CEO.

Abercrombie & Fitch elevated the head of its Hollister brand to the newly created role of president and chief merchandising officer after announcing the departure of another top executive.

Judging by its recent executive appointments, online beauty subscription retailer Birchbox is getting more and more serious about expanding in the physical space.

The company has named Benjamin Fay as VP of retail development and customer experience, with responsibility for translating the Birchbox brand experience into store design and overseeing execution of the retailer’ s off-line growth.

Over the past 15 years or so, fast-fashion has evolved from a trend to a phenomenon to an industry standard — one that has largely redefined the U.S. apparel retailing landscape.

From home-grown Forever 21 to Swedish import H&M, the market is awash in stores offering cheap, on-trend clothes at low prices. And now another import has entered the mix, Primark, which opened its first U.S. store in September, in Boston, the first of eight initial locations.

It appears that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is starting to making progress in its turnaround efforts.

Helped by a less promotional stance and cost cuts, the teen retailer saw its profit more than double in its third quarter as it beat expectations. But similar to many other retailers, Abercrombie struck a cautious note and said it expects fourth-quarter same-store sales to be about flat.

Lululemon Athletica’s chief product officer has left the company and other key executives are in new roles as the company looks to increase innovation and execute a 10 year vision.

The operator of 336 stores named expanded the responsibilities of CFO Stuart Haselden and he now adds the title of executive VP of operations. Haselden joined the company early this year after serving as CFO of J. Crew. The company has also initiated a search to fill the newly created position of chief supply chain officer.

Abercrombie & Fitch continues its efforts to polish its brand image.

The retailer announced that Jeanetta Darno has joined the company as VP of diversity and inclusion in a role that will include “enhancing the existing global diversity and inclusion best practices throughout the organization.”

Teen apparel retailer Hollister will remove the steps from its store entrances following a six-year court battle.

The company, owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co., has agreed to eliminate the steps that part of the exterior design of many of its stores in order to make the doorways wheelchair accessible, the Associated Press reported. The change is part of a settlement approved by a federal judge.

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San Francisco — Gap Inc. is the latest retailer to say it will cease the practice of assigning store employees on-call shifts with little advance notice.

Gap joins other chains such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret in pledging to eliminate the practice from its stores.