Columbia House Trims Jobs Amid Reorganization, Taps Jehle
Reorganization Cuts 2% Of Workforce By Don Waller, Daily Variety
About one week after announcing that Columbia House would reorganize into three divisions to take greater advantage of e-commerce opportunities and its pending merger with CDNow.com, the worldís largest direct marketer of music and video has eliminated 87 jobs - some 2 percent of its full-time work force - from its traditional record and video club arm. The company, which is jointly owned by the Sony Corp. of America and Time Warner, also announced that 62 open positions would not be filled. The restructuring is expected to save about $10 million per year. Concurrently, Columbia House has tapped Michele Jehle senior Vice President and General Manager of ColumbiaHouse.com, the firmís online arm, reporting to unit President Bill Ostroff. Her new responsibilities will span marketing, merchandising and product development. Jehle was previously Vice President of Video Sales Promotion for Columbia Houseís video and DVD clubs. Meanwhile, Harry Elias has been upped to Senior Vice President of Video Clubs at the non-Internet arm of Columbia House, and Linda Andersen and Richard Caposella will become Vice Presidents of Advertising, responsible for the newly merged music and video new-member acquisition department.