Liz Claiborne, following the departure of a key retailing executive at its corporate headquarters last month, is further decentralizing its retail businesses, sources told The Post.
The struggling apparel giant is handing over control of about 185 off-price outlet stores to the respective subsidiary brands that operate them, including Liz Claiborne, Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade and DKNY Jeans, sources said.
The brands, which already control their full-price specialty stores, will likewise gain control over choosing new outlet store locations.
The move is the latest in CEO Bill McComb’s turnaround effort to make management of the company’s brands more autonomous and downsize the bureaucracy at Liz Claiborne’s corporate headquarters in Midtown.
In March, The Post reported that the design team for the Liz Claiborne brand is moving this spring to the West Side studio of celebrity designer Isaac Mizrahi to revamp the aging line.
“We’re now having everything centered on the brands,” McComb told The Post in an interview yesterday.
He added that operations such as retail, which has a high profile with consumers, “ought to be managed and controlled by people running the brands.”
Juicy Couture stores have posted outsize gains in sales, but the brand still lacks a president.
McComb said results at Lucky Brand stores have been hurt by setbacks in merchandise planning and allocation systems.