Saks COO Leaving | Retail Dive

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Brief description of the dive:

RJ Cilley has left his position as chief operating officer of Saks Fifth Avenue and is now CEO of HVAC and plumbing startup Voomi Supply, he said via LinkedIn. He announced his departure from Saks days earlier.
Cilley spent the past three and a half years as chief operating officer of Saks, capping a 12-year career with owner Hudson’s Bay Co., according to his LinkedIn profile, which included a stint as senior vice president of digital at Lord & Taylor.
Saks plans to take on the COO role, the spokesperson said in an email. “In the meantime, we have strong operational leadership in place to ensure a smooth transition. We thank RJ for all his contributions to our company and wish him all the best in his next chapter,” the spokesperson said.

Diving Insight:

Cilley’s departure from Saks could be part of the inevitable shakeup following HBC’s proposed $2.65 billion takeover of luxury department store Neiman Marcus, a move that has been rumored for years.

“All good things must come to an end. Saks and HBC have been my home for many years and I am so grateful for my time there,” Cilley said via LinkedIn, adding, “I look forward to cheering Saks Global on from the sidelines!”

That entity, Saks Global — encompassing Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman — would emerge from the deal, which also involves an investment from Amazon.

Each banner will continue to operate, according to Thursday’s announcement of the deal. It’s unclear, however, whether the lines between the store and the e-commerce operations of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th will remain, or if Neiman Marcus will join those banners in separating e-commerce from its brick-and-mortar operations.

In 2021, Saks Fifth Avenue and off-price Saks Off 5th separated their e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses as part of parent company HBC’s broader push to unlock value, establishing Saks.com and Saksoff5th.com as standalone companies. Later that year, Neiman Marcus scrapped the concept (as did Macy’s).

Canadian department store HBC Hudson’s Bay will be recapitalized as a standalone entity, according to a merger announcement last week. The retailer also separated its brick-and-mortar and e-commerce operations but merged them shortly thereafter.

Observers have seen the splits as an attempt to make traditional department stores more attractive to investors and technology professionals, although many have questioned the wisdom of splitting operations.

Neither Saks nor HBC immediately responded to questions about the future of the online-offline concept within Saks Global.