Retail briefs

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/30/2004 12:00:00 AM

Sears Canada cans CEO

Mark Cohen, chairman and CEO of Sears Canada, has been fired by the company's board due to "strategic differences about the future direction of the business," stated Sears Canada.

In his place, the board appointed a longtime Sears Canada executive, Brent Hollister, as president and CEO. Hollister currently serves as the company's president and chief operating officer. In addition, Glenn Richter, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sears, Roebuck and Co., has been appointed board chairman of Sears Canada. He will continue to serve in his Sears, Roebuck and Co. role.

Sears, Roebuck owns approximately 54 percent of Sears Canada, an independent, publicly traded company.

Bergren takes top post at Bon-Ton

The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. has named Byron "Bud" Bergren to the position of president and CEO.

Bergren has also been elected to the board of directors. He replaces former CEO Tim Grumbacher, who had announced in December 2003 his intention to step back from this position. Grumbacher will continue in his role as chairman of the board.

Bergren was named vice chairman of Bon-Ton in November 2003. Prior to joining Bon-Ton, since February 2002, he served as president and CEO of The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., which was acquired by Bon-Ton in October 2003.

Saks taps Byers for evp spot

Saks named Stephen Byers executive vice president of stores and visual merchandising for Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

Byers' retail career spans nearly 30 years. He held the post of senior vice president/territory director of stores for Kohl's Department Stores since 2000, where he was responsible for the operations of 180 stores and oversaw the grand opening of 80 new locations. Between 1994 and 2000, Byers was senior vice president/regional manager for Sears, and prior to that he gained experience with L.S. Ayres, Lazarus, and Strawbridge & Clothier.

In this post, Byers will oversee store and visual merchandising operations for the company's 31 Carson Pirie Scott, 14 Bergner's, 10 Boston Store, 40 Herberger's, and 50 Younkers stores. He will report to Michael MacDonald, chairman and CEO of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Byers replaces Kit Shaw, who recently retired from the post.

Saks taps Mustafa, Villa

Saks has made two promotions in its Saks Department Store Group (SDSG) private brand and product development area, based in Birmingham, Ala.

Harris Mustafa, with 30 years of merchandising, finance, and planning experience in the retail industry, has been promoted to executive vice president of private brand and product development. He joined SDSG in 2003 as senior vice president of planning and operations for private brand. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of business planning for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. He will report to George Jones, president and CEO of SDSG.

Steve Villa has been promoted to senior vice president and general merchandise manager of ready-to-wear and intimate apparel for private brand and product development for SDSG. Villa's retail career also spans 30 years. He joined SDSG in 1998 as vice president of product development for Studio Works. In 2003, he assumed additional responsibility for Breckenridge, a women's brand introduced this year. Villa will report to Mustafa.