Donna Karan Explores The Benefits Of IP Video

September 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Matt Pillar, editor in chief

A new DVR system at Donna Karan is serving up benefits for LP, merchandising, operations, and more.

With LP leadership experience at Sears, JCPenney, Bloomingdale’s, and The Home Depot, you might not have expected veteran LP man Paul Paglia to take a gig with the relatively small, high-fashion retailer Donna Karan International. But that’s where Paglia has been for more than three years now, not just serving as senior director of LP & retail operations, but also relishing the experience.

“The fundamentals of retail and retail LP are the same whether you’re selling hammers or shirts and ties,” says Paglia. “What differentiates one retail environment from the next is the culture, and the culture at Donna Karan is one that challenges the status quo.” Paglia says technology plays a key role in this mindset, as the company continuously looks at how it can leverage new technologies to help it run more efficiently and more profitably. “I report to our CFO, and she insists that I embrace and invest in technology that helps us do more with less,” says Paglia. His dual LP/operations role at Donna Karan puts him in a prime position to do that.