Brands
Shoppers Stop lays off 1100 employees
MUMBAI: India's oldest department store chain Shoppers Stop is planning to lay off over 1100 employees as well as shutting some of its lower-performing stores owing to the drop in sales.
A company spokesperson shared with Economic Times that the declining business has resulted in employee layoffs, further mentioning that considering the limitation on adding new stores in the current situation, the size of the brand’s business is effectively reduced, leaving them with no other option but to let go of employees in order to adjust the company’s cost base.
It has been reported that around 15 percent of the 7500 staff strength, mostly comprising junior and mid-level workers, have been asked to resign by 15 June.
Apparently, these include over 1000 employees from the front-end operations and nearly 160 belonging to the back-end processes.
All the affected employees will be given their salaries for two months on an immediate basis.
While Shoppers Stop confirmed its layoff plans, it also maintained that it will re-hire from the same set of people as soon as there’s an improvement in the situation.
Soon after the Government’s Unlock, 1.0 plan came into being, Shoppers Stop reopened 55 of its 90 department stores.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
