Note: This piece has been edited to reflect new information since it was originally published.
2016’s C-level musical chairs continue to shake up the retail industry. In the past few months, a number of high-ranking executives made sudden departures, including Sharen Jester Turney, who left her CEO post at Victoria’s Secret in February (and was recently replaced by Jan Singer) and Jonathan Ramsden, who stepped down from his COO position at Abercrombie & Fitch. Now, the CFOs of accessories and shoe retailers Coach and DSW have vacated their offices.
After a lackluster Q1, DSW Senior VP and CFO Mary Meixelsperger has resigned from her position. She will be joining Ashland Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Valvoline Inc., as CFO effective June 20, 2016. During this quarter, the company’s net income dropped 37% and same-store sales have also declined. Jared Poff has been promoted to Senior VP and will be the company’s interim CFO as DSW assesses internal and external candidates for the position.
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Meixelsperger had held her role at DSW since April 2014. Previously, she was an executive at ShopKo Stores, holding the title of Executive VP and CFO from 2005 to 2014.
Fashion house Coach also announced that CFO Jane Hamilton Nielsen will be departing to pursue another opportunity. Nielsen is expected to keep her position until August 2016 while Coach searches for her successor. Coach intends to appoint Andrea Shaw Resnick, currently the Global Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, as interim CFO.
“During her tenure, Jane has played an important role as our leadership team’s finance partner and we wish her the best of luck as she embarks on her next chapter,” said Victor Luis, CEO of Coach, Inc. in a statement. “In addition, we are delighted to announce our intention to have Andrea, a seasoned Coach veteran with more than 30 years of finance experience, assume the position of interim CFO. Andrea has a unique and unparalleled understanding of the company, initially joining Coach in 2000, during our IPO.”
Just one day after Nielsen’s resignation, Ralph Lauren announced her appointment as CFO of the company. Nielsen’s “expanded” CFO role will include all finance functions, as well as overseeing store operations, procurement, IT and investor relations. Her appointment is effective Sept. 6, 2016.
Ralph Lauren also announced the appointment of Amazon veteran Bill Campbell as Corporate SVP of Global Supply Chain and Inventory Management, and ex-HSN President Jeffrey Kuster as Group President for the Americas.
“We are thrilled to have attracted these three high-performance leaders – all of whom have best-in-class knowledge that is directly aligned to our Way Forward Plan,” said Stefan Larsson, President and CEO of Ralph Lauren in a statement. “With Jane’s key role as a change agent at Coach, Bill’s supply chain experience at Amazon, and Jeff’s track record of building high-quality omnichannel sales for leading consumer brands, we will be even better positioned to strengthen our underlying business engines and drive profitable sales and shareholder returns.”
