In December 2020, Express hired investment bank Lazard Freres & Co, to assist in raising enough financing to carry the company through the pandemic. “Our priorities shifted.” To get his plan off the ground, he kept certain employees focused on advancing ExpressWay Forward strategies, while others were tasked with “managing liquidity and the financial burdens that the pandemic presented,” he said. “Six weeks later, we closed every one of our stores and sent people home,” he said, referencing the onset of the pandemic in March. In the months prior, he overhauled the leadership team, appointing Malissa Akay, formerly of Lane Bryant, as chief merchandising officer, and Sara Tervo, from Justice, as CMO, among other hires. “Prior, there was no corporate strategy,” he said. Dubbed ExpressWay Forward, it spelled out company goals around its products (more newness, versatility), brand, customer base and execution.
It also spotlighted second-quarter sales to date, which Baxter said are exceeding 2019 levels, on a comparable basis.īaxter, a 12-year Macy’s executive, joined Express in June 2019 and rolled out his corporate strategy for the company in January 2020.
reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2021, ending May 1, 2021: Net sales were up 64% year-over-year, at $346 million.
