Tilly’s announced Tuesday that EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer Laura Janney is departing the company after a short stay to pursue other interests.

Janney, who spent 32 years at Nordstrom before working at Hudson Bay, joined Tilly’s on May 8 last year to oversee buying, sourcing, product development, and the retailer’s merchandising across online and its 246 stores.

Since the departure of the company’s longtime merchandise leader Debbie Anker-Morris in 2019, Tilly’s has experienced repeated turnover in the top merchandising job.

Anker-Morris’s replacement, Tricia Smith, who came from Nordstrom in the fall of 2019, left in early 2021 to become the CEO of Anthropologie.

She was replaced by Bobby Goodwin in March of 2021. He exited Tilly’s two years later for a position at Vans, and now works at Complex NTWRK.

Internal Promotion for Michael Cingolani to Top Job

Goodwin was promoted to the top merchandising spot, and Tilly’s is doing the same thing this time around. The company announced Tuesday that Michael Cingolani has been promoted to SVP/GMM.

He previously worked as senior director, divisional merchandise manager for men’s and boys’ apparel at the company. Earlier in his career, Cingolani did a five-year stint at Tilly’s, and has also held a variety of buying and merchandising roles at rue21, Foot Locker, Pacific Sunwear, and Kohl’s.

Tough Environment for Teen Retailers

Like many retailers of late, Tilly’s has been struggling amid soft consumer spending by younger shoppers.

The company, which will report third quarter earnings Dec. 5, has forecast a comparable net sales decrease in the range of approximately 6% to 2% for the period. Tilly’s also expects to report an earnings per share loss of 39 to 29 cents.

In light of the company’s challenges, co-founder Hezy Shaked recently returned to the CEO role.

“As the co-founder of this 42-year-old company, there is no one who cares about it more deeply than I do,” Shaked said in a statement at the time of the announcement. “I remain fully committed and enthusiastic about making every effort to work toward improving our business.”

SES reached out to Tilly’s about Janney’s departure and Cingolani’s promotion, but the company declined to comment because it is in its quiet period before releasing its third quarter earnings report.