June 14, 2012 -- The Victoria’s Secret call center in Rio Rancho has been acquired by a national firm that provides credit card services to 95 North American retailers.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) announced the purchase Thursday and said all 350 employees at the center will keep their jobs. The workers will become Alliance employees on Sept. 14, said Alliance spokeswoman Shelley Whiddon.

"Employees will receive uninterrupted, comparable compensation and benefits and will maintain their tenure," Alliance said in a prepared statement.

The employees will see their duties change, however. Currently, they take orders from Victoria’s Secret (NYSE: LTD) catalog customers. In the future, they will provide customer service to Victoria’s Secret credit card holders and to card holders of many of the 95 retailers that Alliance serves. The employees will be trained for their new roles, Whiddon added.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

The deal came about because Alliance is growing and Victoria’s Secret catalog call center business had been declining as more and more customers bought items through the firm’s website, Whiddon explained. Victoria’s Secret didn’t need all those workers, and Alliance did.

Victoria’s Secret CEO Sharen Jester Turney said the deal was good for both companies.

"I am very pleased that this transition enables the Rio Rancho associates to continue to succeed, while allowing Victoria’s Secret to be more efficient and better aligned with how customers shop with us today," Turney said.

Alliance, with three business divisions, employs 9,000 at 50 locations worldwide. It operates five customer call centers in Colorado, Ohio and Kansas.

Victoria’s Secret will consolidate its call center operations in Kettering, Ohio.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com