Levitz names retail vet to operations post
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 24, 2003
Woodbury, N.Y. — Levitz Home Furnishings Inc. has named retail veteran Jay Carothers chief operating officer.
He replaces Steven Halper, who will become vice chairman and remain on the board of LHFI, the parent company of the Levitz and Seaman's chains.
Carothers has more than 20 years of retailing experience in operating areas including distribution, finance, information systems, store administration and human resources. Most recently he was with Belk department stores in Charlotte, N.C., where he was president of e-commerce.
From 1997 to 2000, he was with Filene's Basement in Boston as president and chief operating officer. Before that, he worked for Macy's and then its parent Federated Department Stores, leading Macy's operations, finance department human resources and its corporate buying and private label programs before becoming president of Federated merchandising.
After a naval career, Carothers got his start in retail in the 1980s with The Limited, heading operations and finance in Hong Kong.
"I am thrilled to have an executive of Jay's caliber, experience and integrity join our management team and help manage the rapid growth opportunities and operating efficiencies that are ahead of us," said Alan Rosenberg, chief executive officer of LHFI, a Top 100 company with 73 Levitz stores and 53 Seaman's and Seaman's Kids stores in 11 states.
Last year, LHFI moved to a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in New Jersey, consolidating one Seaman's warehouse and seven Levitz warehouses. The company will look to Carothers to help manage and develop additional distribution and delivery-related improvements on both the East and West coasts, Rosenberg said.
"The economics of the back end of the business and how we handle that is very important to the profitability of our company," he said.
Carothers said he was looking forward to enhancing and finishing work already under way to improve operations, "and to aggressively pursue new opportunities for raising LHFI's operating performance and store growth even further."
As vice chairman, Halper has been given the additional responsibilities of heading up LHFI's real estate operations, Rosenberg said. The company is preparing to open its second Las Vegas-area store in Henderson, Nev., and a Levitz in Yonkers, N.Y.
