Founding CEO and chairman Ken Seiff to step down from Bluefly

Bluefly Inc.’s founding chairman and CEO, Ken Seiff, is stepping down from those positions and will be replaced as CEO by Melissa Payner-Gregor, who has served as the company’s president since 2003, the company has announced. Payner-Gregor will continue to serve as the company’s president, while Seiff will continue with the company as strategic advisor.

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Prior to joining Bluefly, Payner-Gregor served as CEO and president of Spiegel Catalogs, president of Chico’s FAS. In a statement, the company calls Payne-Gregor “instrumental in the development of the company’s merchandising initiatives,” noting that Bluefly has experienced improved sell-through rates, sales growth and an increased gross profit margin during her tenure as president.

“I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead Bluefly in this new phase of our growth and equally confident in our ability to continue the positive momentum we have generated over the past year,” says Payne-Gregor.

Elected by Bluefly’s board of directors as chairman is Alan Kane, a professor of retailing at Columbia University, who joined Bluefly’s board in 2002. Kane, who also serves on the board of director of Circuit City Stores Inc., previously held positions as president and CEO of Grossman’s Eastern Division and as president and CEO of Pergament Home Centers.

Seiff, who has been with the company since its inception in 1991, saw its annual revenues grow to nearly $40 million during that time. “I am proud of the many accomplishments that Bluefly has achieved and equally enthusiastic to turn over the CEO post to Melissa,” he says. “I have been privileged to work with an extraordinary team that has served over 500,000 customers in a new and better way. For me, this has been the experience of a lifetime.”