Saks Global has widened the role of Emily Essner, president and chief commercial officer, and has promoted Mary McGreevy to chief stores officer for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
The changes stem from a “strategic realignment” to integrate the Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus store teams into the central commercial organization, Saks Global disclosed Friday to WWD.
With the change, all customer-facing functions for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, including brand partnerships and buying, merchandise planning, marketing, digital, commercial analytics and customer insights — and now store experience as well — will be part of the Saks Global commercial organization, led by Essner.
The switch has led to some other key executive changes. Mary McGreevy has been named chief stores officer for the Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores, reporting to Essner. McGreevy previously served as regional vice president, South region, for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
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Larry Bruce, president of stores for Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, is leaving the company. McGreevy had reported to Bruce.
“We are continuing to execute on our integration strategy, and with that, we are creating a more unified approach in how we serve customers,” said Marc Metrick, chief executive officer of Saks Global, in a statement Friday. “By integrating our store teams into the commercial function, we will be better positioned to capitalize on opportunities to better serve our customers, driving growth for our business and that of our brand partners.” Essner reports to Metrick.
Essner said in a statement: “Mary is a results-oriented leader with an impressive track record of delivering customer-centric strategies that accelerate performance and drive impact across our stores. Building on the solid foundation laid by Larry, she brings a distinctive blend of visionary thinking, entrepreneurial spirit and a deep understanding of the evolving needs of today’s luxury consumer. With her ability to cultivate high-performing teams and elevate the customer experience, I’m confident she is the right leader to oversee our Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores in this next chapter and deliver on our ambitious goals.”
“My focus is on supporting and enabling our teams to curate tailored customer experiences that fuel growth,” McGreevy stated.
Bruce is credited with pioneering Saks Fifth Avenue’s clienteling program and sharpening the company’s focus on differentiated client experiences to create loyalty and customer value. Prior to his role overseeing the Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores, he served as president of the Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
“Larry has played a pivotal role in shaping our business over his 22-plus year tenure,” Metrick said. “During this time, he has been a wonderful thought partner and a constant source of support. He has shown great leadership during this important integration period for our company, ensuring stability, continuity and a strong foundation for our future as Saks Global.”
McGreevy has more than two decades of strategic customer-focused and operational leadership at Saks and elsewhere. Her role has spanned business development, customer engagement and cross-functional partnerships with key brand stakeholders. Her new role does not include Bergdorf Goodman, which has a separate buying and stores team from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
Since joining Neiman Marcus in 2018, McGreevy has held several leadership spots, where she has played a pivotal role in driving performance across its NorthPark flagship in Dallas and other key markets. “She has led complex store openings and renovations, evolved selling structures and built high-performing teams that consistently exceeded financial targets,” Saks Global indicated in its statement. “Earlier in her career, Mary spent over 15 years at Bloomingdale’s, where she led store openings and spearheaded initiatives that reshaped the customer experience and selling model for the brand. Her early experience in merchandising, buying and sales continues to inform her leadership style.”
Essner was promoted to president and chief commercial officer at Saks Global in December, when Saks Global consummated its $2.7 billion deal to buy the Neiman Marcus Group. Before that, Essner was chief marketing officer for Saks Fifth Avenue for four-and-a-half years, and earlier Saks’s senior vice president of marketing and digital for more than three years. Earlier in her career, she was vice president of corporate strategy at the Hudson’s Bay Co., director of corporate strategy at Saks Fifth Avenue and a senior associate at McKinsey & Co.
Through the integrations of its operations, Saks Global, while looking to operate more efficiently and respond to trends and customer needs faster, is seeking to cut about $600 million in annual costs. This spring, approximately 550 workers were terminated, cutting 3 percent of Saks Global’s total workforce following cuts made earlier in the year. Another 500 jobs were also eliminated when Saks closed an owned fulfillment center in Tennessee recently.
