Apparel industry feels sting of leadership purge.

NATIONWIDE RT REPORT -- Paul Pressler wasn't the only big executive to recently leave a major apparel retailer.

The holiday season ended with a bang with the unexplained departure of Catherine West, JCPenney's evp and coo, on Dec. 28, 2006. Limited Brands announced some departures in its underperforming Express and Limited Brands divisions and some promotions and restructuring in its Victoria's Secret brand, in mid-January. Chief marketing officer Joan Chow and coo Craig Monaghan both left Sears Holdings within days of each other in mid-January, and Vanessa Castagna, the executive chairwoman of Mervyns, abruptly left the California-based department store.

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