Victoria’s Secret corporate reorg includes layoffs; three C-suite appointments

Victoria’s Secret & Co. is streamlining, bringing its three lines of business under one umbrella.

The company unveiled a leadership structure under which Victoria’s Secret, Pink and Beauty will operate as “a single, collaborative organization, enhancing focus on the customer, and positioning resources towards high-growth, high-return initiatives.” The retailer said the move is designed to enable execution of its strategy and fuel long-term growth goals.”

In line with the new structure, Victoria’s Secret, which was spun off as its own company last August, has made three C-suite appointments, including naming Amy Hauk, who has served as chief executive of Pink since 2018, as CEO of Victoria’s Secret and Pink. (Other appointments at end of article.)

The reorganization will also result in a reduction of about 160 management roles, or roughly 5% of the retailer’s home office headcount. In total, the changes are expected to result in an estimated $40 million cost reduction on an annualized basis beginning in third quarter of fiscal 2022, with the company taking a $30 million charge in the second quarter.

“Over the last year, we have progressed a thoughtful revolution of our business by redefining the VS brand and rebuilding our strategy for growth,” said Martin Waters, CEO, Victoria’s Secret & Co. “We have more relevant brand positioning, more compelling merchandise assortments, and a more inclusive culture that celebrates our people. With our brand revolution well underway and gaining momentum, now is the time to reimagine our leadership structure to better align with a shifting consumer landscape and become more efficient as an organization.”

Appointments
Christine (Chris) Rupp will join the company as chief customer officer. She joins from Albertsons, where she has served as chief customer and digital officer since 2019. Before that, Rupp was at Microsoft for three years and Amazon for nearly 11 years, where her last position was VP, Amazon Prime.

Greg Unis, who has led the Victoria’s Secret and Pink Beauty businesses since 2016, has been named chief growth officer. In this new role, he will be responsible for the VS&Co-Lab platform, new business development, international expansion, as well as mergers and acquisition opportunities. He continues to lead VS&Co’s real estate and store design and construction teams 

“Uniting our brands as a single, collaborative organization under Amy’s leadership will bring greater focus and discipline to our merchandising expertise while streamlining our processes and improving our speed to market,” Waters said. “I firmly believe combining our store and digital channels under Chris will move us from being a company of 'shop keepers' to being a company of 'customer keepers'. By strengthening our core businesses in this manner, we are freeing up time and resources to focus on growth under Greg’s leadership.”

Victoria’s Secret & Co. operates more than 1,350 retail stores in more than 70 countries. 

[Read More: Victoria’s Secret launches online marketplace focused on women-led brands]