Warnaco Group Inc. announced a cost-cutting plan on Wednesday that includes eliminating about 45 corporate jobs and reducing capital expenditures. At a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley, Warnaco chief executive Joe Gromek said the company's first round of cost reductions included cutting 7% of its corporate staff, or about 45 jobs, a spokeswoman told Reuters.


The New York-based company, which also operates Calvin Klein retail stores mostly outside the United States, has roughly 5,000 employees in total, she added.


“We are … taking immediate actions to respond to the macroeconomic environment,” Gromek said, according to Reuters. “We will control the things that we can control. We will align our costs to reflect current economic conditions.”


Warnaco is aiming to reduce its 2009 selling, general and administrative spending by $40 million and its capital expenditures by 20%, Gromek said. But it still plans to add 100,000 square feet of retail space in 2009, after adding about the same amount this year.

The company also affirmed its full-year earnings and sales targets, which it lowered earlier this month, citing a higher tax rate and the impact from the strengthening U.S. dollar.