High street retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) has suffered a further setback to its ailing clothing category as its Director of Lingerie & Beauty Janie Schaffer resigned after just three months, it is understood.
Nicknamed the ‘Knicker Queen‘, Schaffer joined M&S in January from lingerie specialist Victoria‘s Secret and had previously co-founded lingerie retailer Knickerbox.
Schaffer replaced Frances Russell, who was promoted last November to Director of Womenswear as the retailer focused on overhauling its General Merchandise (GM) team following the departure of Director Kate Bostock last July.
According to The Telegraph, Schaffer handed in her notice last week amid disappointment that she had not been given control of product marketing and packaging and had also been frustrated that hopes to overhaul the lingerie & beauty category had not been realised.
GM continues to struggle at M&S, which last week reported a GM total sales decline of 2.2 per cent in its fourth quarter while like-for-like sales dropped 3.8 per cent on the same period last year.
Despite these disappointing figures, M&S CEO Marc Bolland noted at the time that the retailer is “working hard on improving our performance in General Merchandise”, though this latest departure will add further pressure to its crucial clothing offering.
