Business Today

Spotlight on the Seminar Series: Pacific's Bill McComb &A Conversation with 5^th.

On Monday, February 21th Business Today warmly welcomed Bill McComb, CEO of Liz Claiborne Inc., now reestablished as 5th and Pacific. 5th and Pacific owns Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans, and Kate Spade.  Mr. McComb is responsible for the rebranding of the Liz Claiborne. McComb, 48 years old, joined the company as CEO in November 2006. Mr. Mccomb lives here in Princeton. His prior experience at Johnson & Johnson in the areas of consumer products and brand marketing, as well as his direct operation of international businesses, provides important insights in the area of brand management and marketing.
Mr. Mccomb’s predecessor became comfortable with the Liz Claiborne brand name and decided to buy some other brand names. The company has gone through some truly radical transformations. Liz Claiborne Inc. has met much success since the 1980s. After buying over 50 other brands, the company had to do some restructuring.
The September 2008 financial collapse had gravely affected their marketing and consumer strategy. Liz Claiborne did a deal with JC Penney that would guarantee that sales would increase for the next 8 years. In October of 2011, JC Penney bought Liz Claiborne and Mr. Mccomb began the transformation to 5th and Pacific.Back in early 2007, brands like Lucky Jeans and Juicy Couture had certain brand reach. If the company were to treat each of these brands as its own company, Liz Claiborne could evolve to the hot rapid growth of a high end fashion line.