Nixon cut 13 positions this week as part of a strategy to focus on digital marketing and other areas that will see the company add 11 new positions in coming months.
The company remains at about 250 global employees.
The eliminated positions came in small numbers across all departments. Nixon executives declined to say what specific positions were cut.
“We announced to the team a re-organization of the business on Monday. It isn’t a dramatic change to how we operate, but for us it’s significant,” CEO Nick Stowe said in a statement.
“We eliminated 13 positions which was the really hard part; we’re also changing the responsibilities of around a dozen positions and we’re opening up 11 new roles where we have gaps and opportunities, mainly in digital marketing, product, and e-commerce,” he said.
“We’ve developed a lot over the past few years, and how our consumers engage and how they shop has changed, so we’re probably overdue in terms of adjusting to that.
“It’s bittersweet. It’s always hard to let people go. But it’s the right thing for the company, it helps us get after some great opportunities and it’s going to modernize Nixon and really get us aligned with the changes we see happening around us.”
The new positions include a new VP of e-Commerce, additions to the digital marketing team to focus on projects such as creating Instagram stories, and other additions to support both the wholesale and direct businesses.
Watch sales have continued to decline in many retail channels. The Action Watch panel of 200 core stores saw total watch sales drop by 24% year-over-year through Q3 of 2016, for instance, although Nixon remained “the undisputed leader” in the channel, with nearly 75% of all panel sales, Action Watch said.
