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Where Macy’s goes, Estee and Arden follow?
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It must have been a rough Monday for Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden.
One of their top clients, department store operator Macy’s Inc, announced a sweeping measure to consolidate its divisions into a single unit and slash about 7,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs.
A mere three days later, Estee and Arden both posted sharp declines in quarterly profits, and also announced job cuts. While Estee, known for the Clinique and Bobbi Brown brands, said it would shed about 2,000 jobs, Arden did not specify a number.
Both companies pointed to Macy’s reorganization plan during their conference call, but mum was the word when it came to revealing if their job cuts were in any way linked to the Macy’s news.
An Elizabeth Arden spokesman, Michael Fox, told us that the company was not inclined to share more.
Well, then it must be a coincidence.
In other news, Elizabeth Arden, famous for its Britney Spears perfume, said that while sales of her line of perfumes were down “as planned,” sales of the Britney brands have exceeded the company’s projections over the last few months. The company is hoping the trend continues over the next six months or year “as she has taken a more active role in her career.”
(Photo/Reuters)
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