Lord & Taylor president exits company after one year

Vanessa LeFebvre announced last week that she is leaving her post within Lord & Taylor. The retail executive took over the role of president with the Hudson's Bay-owned retailer last May, following the departure of former president Liz Redbell.

LeFebvre joined Lord & Taylor from Stitch Fix, where she served as vice president, women's buying.

"Thank you to my Lord + Taylor team. I have such gratitude for your spirit, dedication, friendship and hard work," LeFebvre wrote on a LinkedIn post. "You put the customer first daily, and push for progress. This hasn’t always been easy, but I am grateful for the journey." She explained in the post that she decided to step down from the role "to explore what’s next."

While LeFebvre had only been in the role of president for just over a year, she had previously spent a ten-year period from 1999 to 2009 with the company. According to her LinkedIn profile, previous positions with Lord & Taylor included divisional merchandise manager and buyer.

LeFebvre's announcement was posted the day after Hudson's Bay Company reported its first quarter earnings results. The Canadian retail company's earnings dropped by 3.3 percent to 1.58 billion dollars during the quarter.

Lord & Taylor in particular has been struggling as of late; it closed down its historic Fifth Avenue flagship at the start of this year and in May, Hudson's Bay Company announced that it was reviewing more strategic options for Lord & Taylor's success.