NEW YORK — Twenty of retail’s hotshots raked in a combined $69 million in income last year, thanks to some stellar company performances.
In WWD’s annual list of retail apparel executives’ compensation, some notable shifts occurred in the rankings. The big move: Robert J. Ulrich, chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corp., took home the highest paycheck of $6.6 million (executive compensation includes salary and bonus). In the process, he also dethroned H. Lee Scott, president and ceo of Wal-Mart Stores, the largest retailer in the world. Scott, who earned $5.6 million, was bumped to second place — Ulrich’s position last year.
The shift represented another front in the continuing battle between the two companies: WWD reported in May that Wal-Mart missed Wall Street estimates by a penny, while Target beat expectations by 2 cents.
For retail executives, bonuses are derived typically through a formula based on results of operating performance. “The truth of the matter is that retail compensations are up by virtue of the profits of their companies,” said Terre Simpson, president of Simpson Associates, a retail and apparel executive search firm in Manhattan.
A good example is American Eagle Outfitters, a lifestyle retailer that sells affordable clothing for 15- to 25-year-olds. American Eagle had two of its executives make the grade this time around and move into the top 20. The specialty retailer saw its annual sales rise 31.1 percent, while profits skyrocketed 258 percent to $213.3 million — letting ceo James O’Donnell and vice chairman and president Roger Markfield take the 10th and 11th spots, respectively.
How many women made the list? Only two: newcomer Dorrit Bern, chairman, president and ceo of Lane Bryant’s Charming Shoppes, and Susan Kronick, vice chair of Federated.
“You can almost name the top female powerhouses in the retail community on one hand,” noted Simpson. “Many more women are found in the middle management positions,” she added. The number of female executives from the list last year topped out at two as well.
Other companies that saw their top executives pull in significantly higher compensations in 2004 over the previous year included Dillard’s, Buckle, and Cache.