NEW YORK — Pamela Thomas-Graham, the former chairman of CNBC, has been named group president at Liz Claiborne Inc. and will oversee the flagship business as well as Sigrid Olsen, J.H. Collectibles, Emma James, Intuitions and Tapemeasure.
She succeeds Fritz Winans, who has been named to the new position of managing director, Asia development, based in Hong Kong.
Thomas-Graham, 41, will start Oct. 10 and will report to Trudy Sullivan, executive vice president at Liz Claiborne Inc.
Sullivan said Thomas-Graham is a perfect fit for the job because she has dealt with many of the issues that confront the apparel industry. Sullivan said she is capable of handling challenges such as “changing distribution channels, rigorous cost containment, international expansion and a highly competitive market in which share gain is the primary path to growth.”
Thomas-Graham, who joined CNBC in July 2001, was named chairman of the cable channel last February and relinquished her role as president and chief executive officer.
Before working at CNBC, Thomas-Graham was a partner with McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm based here. She was instrumental in “reengineering the global supply chain management process and in developing channel management and consumer segmentation approaches for a multibrand luxury apparel company,” Sullivan said.
In the company’s most recent earnings release, Paul Charron, chairman and ceo, acknowledged that the core Liz Claiborne brand will continue to struggle as it did during the first quarter, with net sales slipping 9.2 percent. Overall, earnings are rising. Management anticipates that the core brand will post a sales decline for the year, which is attributed to increased competition and uncertainty over how Federated’s acquisition of May Department Stores will shake out.