More restructuring for Quiksilver

The reorganization at Quiksilver continued today with major changes unfolding mainly in wholesale sales in the Americas region.

The changes, which include an unspecified number of job losses, are designed to realign sales around key account relationships, Americas President Rob Colby told me.

After the changes, the sales management team is focused around men’s apparel, women’s apparel, footwear and snow, across brands.

Deanna Jackson. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

In particular, Deanna Jackson will be responsible for Roxy sales overall, and also Roxy women’s apparel and DC women’s apparel.

John Mills will be responsible for Quiksilver sales overall, and also Quiksilver men’s apparel and DC men’s apparel.

Jeff Fitzhugh is responsible for DC sales overall, and also footwear for DC, Quiksilver and Roxy, with help from Kiki Prince.

Deanna, John, Jeff and Kiki are all current Quiksilver Inc. employees.

Rob answered some questions for me about the thinking behind the reorganization.

How will these changes help drive the business? 

John Mills. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

Rob Colby: We will have our management connect with management in all of our key accounts. We will also have buyers connect with key account reps directly, across businesses.

Right now, we have three different sets of managers, key account reps, and sales operations teams calling on the same buyers in many accounts.

Do John, Deanna and Jeff all report to you? 

Rob: Yes.

Is Clark Gundlach still responsible for snow sales overall for all three brands, still reporting to you? 

Rob: Yes.

Taylor Whisenand and Clark Gundlach. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

What about accessories sales? Is there one person in charge of that or is it wrapped up in another position? 

Rob: Accessories roll up under apparel.

If you are aligning along footwear and apparel, how does that change the people underneath? Will Quiksilver reps now focus on either apparel or footwear? What about sales managers? 

Rob: It changes the management layer, and many of our key account reps, for instance someone looking after Macy’s or Journeys, will have fewer accounts with more brands to manage within that account.

Does this mean that some sales managers and rep jobs were eliminated? 

Rob: Yes, some jobs were eliminated.

Global Head of HR Carol Scherman and Americas President Rob Colby. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

Previously, Taylor Whisenand was in charge of Quiksilver sales. Is he still with the company?

Rob: Yes, Taylor works under John on men’s apparel sales.

There have been so many restructurings and changes at Quiksilver. How are you helping the staff to deal with it all?

Rob: All of us in management are communicating as often, and as openly and honestly as possible with our people. It’s a time of change for many of the companies in our industry, and my job is to reassure our people that we’re making good decisions for the business and the future of those of us staying with Quiksilver.

I’ve also had a few employees who are also close friends come to me with other job offers. I have done my absolute best to guide them in the direction that’s best for them and their family.

Carol Scherman, our Global Head of Human Resources, is also incredibly attentive and nurturing with our people. They know they can go to either of us on anything stressing them out, etc.