Charming Shoppes promotes a key e-commerce executive

Charming Shoppes Inc. is making a concerted move to expand its e-commerce channel and within four years generate annual web sales of at least $200 million, it says.

To help achieve that goal, Charming Shoppes, No. 226 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites , is expanding the ranks of its senior management. The company has promoted Edwin A. Neumann to senior vice president, chief financial officer, business strategy and multi-channel integration for Crosstown Traders, which Charming Shoppes acquired in 2005. As part of his multi-channel role, Neumann will work with Charming Shoppes’ e-commerce organization to enhance Crosstown’s e-commerce sites and oversee any new web sites, the company says. He will report to Crosstown Traders president. Steven A. Lightman.

Neumann was vice president of Charming Shoppes’ shared business services organization. “Ed has been responsible for overseeing the integration activities at Crosstown Traders since our June 2005 acquisition of Crosstown,” says Charming Shoppes CEO Dorrit J. Bern. “In this new role, Ed will have the opportunity to apply his financial and operational management skills toward enhancing our multi-channel opportunities within Charming Shoppes.”

Crosstown Traders sells women’s apparel under several brands, including Old Pueblo Traders, Bedford Fair Shoestyles, Regalia and Monterey Bay Clothing. With Crosstown Traders integrated more closely with its existing e-commerce channel, Charming Shoppes expects web sales to grow from about 3% of total sales to around 5% by 2010. First time web shoppers to a Charming Shoppes’ e-commerce site also spend up to three times more than just a store or other single channel customer, the company says.