NEW YORK–Jeffrey Sherman, formerly with Bloomingdale’s and Polo, has been named the new chief executive officer of Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian retailer that was just acquired by NRDC Equity Partners, the firm that purchased Fortunoff and Lord & Taylor earlier this year.
Sherman was president and chief operating officer of Ralph Lauren’s Polo Retail Group. Before that, he was president of Bloomingdale’s.
Sherman had a 30-year career at Federated, now Macy’s Inc., where he was president of Bloomingdale’s, then CEO of Federated Direct. He later served as CEO of The Limited.
At HBC, he will succeed Robert Johnston, who resigned this week.
Yesterday, NRDC, led by real estate guru Richard Baker, consolidated its ownership of Lord & Taylor, Fortunoff and Creative Design Studios, a design and manufacturing arm, under a holding company called the Hudson’s Bay Trading Co. These companies comprise more than $8 billion in retail sales.
NRDC plans to open Fortunoff-branded home stores in the Bay, HBC’s department store chain. It also plans to roll out Lord & Taylor shops in the Bay’s stores.
HBC also operates Zellers discount stores and home specialty chain Home Outfitters. NRDC Equity Partners is investing $500 million in new equity. “By acquiring Hudson’s Bay Co. along with previous acquisitions Lord & Taylor and Fortunoff, we will have an unprecedented opportunity to recreate the retail landscape in North America,” said Baker in a statement. “Enormous potential exists by upgrading the offerings at both The Bay and Zellers and by bringing Lord & Taylor, Fortunoff & CDS into the mix.”
