Joseph M. Baron, executive vice president and COO at Charming Shoppes, Inc., has assumed leadership of the company’s retail businesses on an interim basis, following the departure of Diane M. Paccione.
Paccione left the Bensalem, PA-based company to become CEO of DEB Shops, Inc. The company is conducting a search for a permanent successor to Paccione.
“In the last six years, Joe has made many strong contributions to Charming Shoppes, including leading the development and launch of our outlet channel business, and building a platform which has supported the strong growth of our e- commerce business,” said Dorrit J. Bern, Chairman and CEO of Charming Shoppes, in a statement.
Bern continued, “Most recently, we called upon Joe’s leadership and organizational talents to transition our direct-to-consumer business through an executive leadership change, which led to the successful launch of the Lane Bryant Woman catalog, and improvements in our core catalog businesses.”
Baron takes the helm during a time of belt-tightening for the Bensalem, PA-based firm. The company recently eliminated 150 (roughly 13%) of its corporate and field management positions. The move comes on the heels of announced plans to consolidate its Catherines brand’s home operations to Bensalem, which eliminated an additional 50 positions.
The company did not announce any changes to its catalog brands, which include Lane Bryant Woman, Old Pueblo Traders, Bedford Fair, Willow Ridge, Lew Magram, Brownstone Studio, Intimate Apparel, Monterey Bay Clothing CO, Coward Shoe and Figis.
Additionally, for its fiscal 2009 year, Charming Shoppes plans to cut more than $40 million from its capital budget, primarily through scaling back planned store openings. The company has also closed or will close 150 underperforming stores, including 100 from its Fashion Bug chain and all four of its Petite Sophisticate Retail concept stores.
Charming Shoppes’ retail brands include Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes, Lane Bryant Outlet and Petite Sophisticate Outlet.
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