Hoffman named to lead Lord & Taylor

-- Home Textiles Today, 10/1/2008 1:50:00 PM

New York – Hudson’s Bay Trading Company (HBTC) has named Brendan L. Hoffman president and ceo of upscale specialty unit Lord & Taylor; he will take over the posts held for the past nine years by Jane Elfers, effective Oct. 6.

Hoffman was most recently president and ceo of Neiman Marcus Direct, a post he took on in 2002. He actually began his retail career in the executive training program at L&T, and rose to dmm, men’s furnishings. He held a similar post at Bergdorf Goodman, then joined Neiman Marcus as vp of the Last Call clearance division.

Hoffman will report to Jeffrey Sherman, president and ceo of Hudson’s Bay Co.

HBTC ceo Richard Baker said, “Jeff’s leadership is integral to creating a world class retail organization, and with Brendan heading up Lord & Taylor, Bonnie Brooks heading up The Bay, and Mark Foote heading up Zeller’s, we now have the team in place to do just that.”

Elfers is leaving as of the end of her contract. Also departing L&T is Mark Weikel, who joined in April 2007 as coo.

HBTC also owns Fortunoff and is expected to begin introducing into L&T departments based on Fortunoff’s home décor and jewelry businesses.