Liz is becoming a retailer

This is a link to an article about some management changes at Liz Claiborne. The COO is gone (and not being replaced), and the CFO got a new title and some additional duties.

But the interesting thing, I think, is this paragraph:

The company is overhauling its business to become more of a retailer than a wholesaler, in order to reduce its dependence on other retailers.

It's another case of the blurring about which I've posted often (most recently here) -- retailers are manufacturers (private label), manufacturers are retailers (outlet stores, Niketown, Apple, etc), and the stores are the manufacturers' prime medium.