Paul Charron Quotes (7 Quotes)

It's hard to ignore Jennifer. She has a good instinct, she has a nose for the products and she is reasonably unafraid. If she thinks something, she'll write it.

There's pressure on these companies to maintain growth, ... These chains are tapping out their own market and they view the U.S. as a much bigger market opportunity where consumers are less than satisfied with their options.

We're really excited to grow there. This is really a straightforward story about going to where the opportunities are. These opportunities certainly are more robust in the Middle East today than they were 20 years ago. The Middle East is a hotbed of tension, but businesspeople usually think long haul. Long-term, we think there are plenty of safe markets there.

The Middle East is fascinating as a market opportunity because that's where the money is. These consumers have high disposable incomes and they're becoming more sophisticated about what's fashionable not just in European haute couture but mainstream American brands like Coach, Ralph Lauren and Juicy Couture.

Our 1998 performance is particularly rewarding given the highly competitive retail environment and the incremental costs associated with our transformation initiatives. These initiatives strengthen Liz Claiborne's leadership position in the apparel industry and position us for continued growth into the millennium.

While it is always a difficult decision to eliminate staff, this is the right thing to do for the business. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, these changes will make us a nimbler, more flexible organization that is closer to our customers and better positioned to optimize our assets and increase profitability and shareholder value.

In the face of a challenging market environment ... we're taking significant steps to take costs out of the business and streamline our operations to more efficiently manage our brand portfolio and more closely align our business with rapidly changing customer and consumer needs.