US retail group Catalyst Brands to expand India global centre, executive says. Catalyst Brands plans to increase headcount at its Bengaluru global capability centre to about 1,000 by the end of the year, India managing director Nihar Nidhi said on Monday, as the Aeropostale owner taps into the country's deep talent pool to handle key business functions including digital initiatives. Nidhi told Reuters that the centre's headcount is set to rise from about 650 at the start of the year, reflecting a higher share of global work being moved to India rather than an overall increase in the company's workforce. For Catalyst Brands, India's appeal as a GCC hub lies in a maturing talent ecosystem that can deliver on domain and technology expertise. The company, formed by the merger of US department store chain J.C. Penney and Sparc Group in 2025, also owns Brooks Brothers, Nautica, and Lucky Brand. Bengaluru is taking on expanded responsibilities across digital operations, creative services, and core business functions such as planning and allocation, while also emerging as a key hub for piloting AI-led initiatives including automated product descriptions, Nidhi said. He added that productivity gains from AI are being used to redeploy employees to higher-value work rather than reduce hiring, as the retail sector remains in the early stages of adoption. While Nidhi did not disclose specific investment figures, he said the scale and quality of AI use cases emerging from Bengaluru are raising expectations that "Bangalore will lead the agenda" in the future, backed by continued investment in talent and capabilities. Catalyst Brands is bringing customer support operations in-house and moving more work from South America to Bengaluru, where it is consolidating global customer care and hiring aggressively, Nidhi said, adding the transition will largely be completed over the next two quarters.

Transforming retail finance with OneStream during $9B Catalyst Brands formation. Retail Reimagined: Amid JCPenney and Catalyst's multi-brand integration, finance leaders partnered with Riveron to unify consolidation, reporting, and analytics on OneStream. April 28, 2026 Challenge. Longstanding retail brand JCPenney recognized that a modern, scalable finance function is central to sustaining performance in a competitive retail environment. The retailer's finance organization relied on a range of manual, Excel- and Oracle/Hyperion-based processes across consolidation, reporting, and analysis. Leadership engaged Riveron as a strategic advisor and OneStream implementation partner to help reimagine these processes - establishing a unified platform to streamline consolidation, align data structures, and enable more consistent reporting and analytics. As this work progressed, JCPenney's transformation took on greater scale with the formation of Catalyst Brands, a $9B+ retail platform created through the combination of JCPenney and SPARC Group - a portfolio of lifestyle and iconic brands including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, and Nautica. This next stage added multiple brands operating on different systems and structures, increasing complexity across ERP environments, charts of accounts, and reporting processes. With Riveron continuing as a strategic partner, finance leadership established a coordinated architecture capable of supporting consolidated reporting, brand-level performance visibility, store-level analytics, and ongoing integration across the Catalyst platform. How Riveron Consulting, LLC. helped. JCPenney and Catalyst Brands partnered with Riveron to implement a phased finance transformation, enabled by OneStream and aligned with brand integration milestones and long-term operating model priorities. Establishing a OneStream consolidation foundation (Phase 1: JCPenney) Riveron implemented OneStream to automate JCPenney's consolidation across profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow reporting, replacing legacy Oracle/Hyperion and Excel-based workflows. This phase established a controlled, centralized environment with standardized hierarchies, intercompany eliminations, and consistent reporting outputs. Expanding consolidation across Catalyst Brands (Phase 2: SPARC integration) Following the formation of Catalyst Brands - the combination of JCPenney and SPARC Group's portfolio of lifestyle and iconic brands - Riveron extended OneStream to support multi-brand consolidation. This phase integrated financials across brands such as Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, and Nautica, enabling aligned reporting across the platform. Rationalizing the chart of accounts across disparate systems (Phase 2b) To support consistent reporting across brands and ERPs, Riveron led the chart of accounts rationalization efforts. This work aligned multiple legacy structures into a standardized framework while preserving brand-level reporting requirements, creating a foundation for consolidated analytics and future ERP alignment. Enabling operational reporting and data integration at scale Riveron designed data integration models to ingest financial and operational data from multiple ERP systems, including Oracle EBS, SAP, Infor, and Lawson. Within OneStream, the team deployed store-level and channel-level reporting across retail, eCommerce, and wholesale operations, enabling more detailed performance analysis across the Catalyst portfolio. Standardizing allocations, reconciliations, and transaction matching (Phase 3 and beyond) In parallel with Phase 2, the team implemented allocation models spanning shared services and brand-level cost structures, alongside account reconciliations and transaction matching across dozens of systems. These capabilities are being deployed in phases through 2026, establishing more consistent processes and reducing manual intervention across finance operations. Laying the foundation for FP&A transformation With core consolidation and data structures in place, Riveron is supporting the transition to integrated FP&A capabilities beginning in 2026. This phase focuses on redesigning planning processes, enabling driver-based models, and aligning forecasting approaches across brands within the OneStream platform. This phased approach enabled Catalyst to progress from foundational consolidation through multi-brand integration and into broader finance process standardization through OneStream, establishing a unified finance platform aligned with integration timelines and structured to support consolidated reporting, analytics, and FP&A capabilities. Results. The OneStream-enabled transformation established a centralized, scalable finance environment aligned with Catalyst's multi-brand operating model and integration priorities. * Centralized multi-brand consolidation: Catalyst now operates within a single OneStream platform supporting automated consolidation across six brands, including profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow reporting, enabling consistent outputs across the organization. * Dimensional reporting across the enterprise: A detailed dimensional model supports reporting across entity, account, channel, store/location, cost center, and business unit structures, allowing finance leadership to evaluate performance at both consolidated and brand-specific levels. * Integrated data across disparate ERP systems: Financial data is integrated from Oracle EBS, SAP, Infor, Lawson, and other systems, with the ability to drill back into underlying data within OneStream, supporting audit traceability and data transparency. * Expanded operational analytics: Store-level and channel-level reporting provides more granular visibility into performance across retail, eCommerce, and wholesale operations, supporting both management reporting and future planning processes. * Reduced reliance on manual processes: Automation across consolidation, data integration, and reporting has significantly reduced dependence on Excel-based workflows, which allows finance teams to execute processes within a controlled system environment. * Scalable foundation for continued transformation: With more than 145 users enabled and multiple phases in progress, the platform supports ongoing initiatives including allocations, account reconciliations, transaction matching, and driver-based planning through 2026. This foundation positions Catalyst's finance organization to support continued integration, evolving reporting requirements, and portfolio-level performance management. Enabling finance transformation with OneStream. Riveron partners with finance organizations in the retail sector and beyond to implement OneStream and design operating models that support consolidation, reporting, and performance management in complex environments. Connect with its team to discuss your finance transformation and technology enablement priorities. Connect with an expert. Success Stories

Iconic outdoors apparel retailer is filing for bankruptcy, closing all of its stores. Times have changed when it comes to Eddie Bauer and its clothing line. The retailer, which specializes in high-quality, durable outdoor apparel and rugged casual wear for men, women and kids, is the latest retailer to leave the brick-and-mortar space. Catalyst Brands, which owns Eddie Bauer, is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Along with that, the brand it is expected to close all its North American stores, according to Women's Wear Daily. With one location already closed - its Burnsville Center store - the brand has nine locations remaining in Minnesota, including Mall of America, Albertville, Duluth, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Edina, Medford, Minnetonka and Woodbury. Liquidation sales have commenced at a number of locations. The Chapter 11 filing won't impact the brand's manufacturing, wholesale or e-commerce operations and won't affect international retail operations outside the U.S. and Canada. Currently, 20 locations are operating internationally. Read the original article on pennlive.com.