The former Lands' End CEO with St. Petersburg ties looks to restore the Tommy Hilfiger label to the glory of its hip hop boom days.
By Times Staff and Wire Reports
Published August 5, 2003
David Dyer may not rival rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs as a hip hop trendsetter, but design house Tommy Hilfiger is counting on the St. Petersburg retailing veteran to restore its luster.
Dyer, 54, was named chief executive and president Monday of Tommy Hilfiger Corp., whose sales have languished since a boom in the late 1990s when the label was a favorite of hip hop stars and fans.
Friday, Dyer had stepped down as chief executive of catalog clothing merchant Lands' End, which is now owned by Sears, Roebuck & Co. During Dyers' tenure as chief executive, Lands' End sales climbed 24 percent through last year.
"This is a person who has repaired broken firms before," said Lawrence Creatura, who helps manage $1.7-billion in assets at Clover Capital Management, including Tommy Hilfiger shares.
Dyer, who owns a condo in the Florencia tower in downtown St. Petersburg, is a former president of Home Shopping Network. Before that, he spent 18 years at Burdines Department Stores in Miami, eventually becoming vice president of marketing.
"David has known the Tommy Hilfiger brand since its inception and, at Burdines in the 1980s, was among the first to recognize its potential and support its growth," said Hilfiger, who is principal designer at the troubled company that carries his name.
Founded in 1985, Hilfiger's preppy-chic brand hit big in the 1990s. With sponsorships from Britney Spears and the Rolling Stones, among others, Hilfiger sold clothing, shoes, cosmetics and home furnishings from boutiques in 2,000 department stores.
Urban hip hop stars and fans embraced its red-white-and-blue designs, and that only bolstered its cachet among suburban teens and young adults.
But the Tommy brand became overexposed, and hip hop fans deserted once stars such as Combs developed their own labels.
Declining sales at department stores have hurt clothing makers in the past few years, and Tommy Hilfiger was especially dependent on such sales. Dillard's Inc., May Department Stores Co. and Federated, which owns Burdines, accounted for 33 percent of Tommy Hilfiger's sales last year. The company closed most of its own U.S. stores after the holiday season.
Although analysts had speculated that the company was a takeover target, it hired J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in May to provide advice on acquisitions of additional brands.
In a statement, Dyer, who also will become a director of the company, said,"Tommy Hilfiger continues to be among the world's strongest and most recognized brand names. I am excited about the potential to build on the company's global business base and capitalize on its excellent infrastructure and marketing capabilities."
Hilfiger spokeswoman Ruth Pachman said Dyer was traveling Monday and was unavailable for further comment.
Shares of Tommy Hilfiger, which is based in Hong Kong, rose 2 cents to close at $10.25 Monday. They have rebounded 80 percent since slumping to $5.61 in March.
- Times staff writer Benita D. Newton contributed to this report, which includes information from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News.
