The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor will slash 2,000 jobs as part of a restructuring effort, it said on Thursday.
The layoffs began on Thursday as roughly 600 employees, including some senior staffers across Hudson’s Bay Co.’s various brands — including Gilt Groupe, Saks and L&T — got pink-slipped.
The luxury retailer and its peers are struggling to sell their pricey apparel as consumers increasingly look for bargains — or spend their disposable income on non-apparel items.
“We are reallocating resources to accelerate the opportunity we see online, as we run our brick and mortar operations more efficiently,” HBC Executive Chairman Richard Baker said in a statement.
HBC lost $221 million in the quarter ended April 29, as sales eased 3 percent.
Even the company’s lower-priced brands, Saks Off 5th and Gilt, performed weakly, the company said.
HBC is moving to emphasize e-commerce and said it’s expanding its “buy online, pick up in store” program at all of its stores. Digital sales increased by 5.6 percent from a year ago.
The restructuring is expected to save HBC more than $350 million.



