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5 of the biggest CEO moves to hit retail this year

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Chief executive officers in retail occupy a challenging position.

They’re ultimately responsible for the company’s financial and operational performance and brand equity. Many major retailers also have thousands or even tens of thousands of employees along with huge real estate footprints.

Corporate boards, shareholders and other members of the executive team also look to CEOs to cast a vision and put plans into action to respond to business trends and issues that are outside anyone’s control, like the economy, inflation, the weather, changing consumer tastes or decisions made by vendors or competing companies.

At times, CEO transitions can seem like a game of musical chairs as leaders move between rival companies into similar roles. One example of this is to follow the journey of Brad Weston, who took over as CEO of At Home in June. Weston replaced former CEO Lee Bird, who retired at the end of last year. Before that, Weston was CEO of Party City until the company successfully exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Party City itself then had multiple CEOs shortly after Weston’s tenure, with Chief Commercial Officer Sean Thompson serving as interim CEO following Weston’s departure. Then, in August, the retailer chose Barry Litwin, a turnaround specialist, as its next president and chief executive officer, replacing Thompson.

Some executives step down for personal reasons, while others agree to leave — or are forced out — ahead of major changes, like entering or leaving bankruptcy. Here are five major CEO changes so far this year at US retailers:

Tony Spring, Macy’s

Headshot of Tony Spring

Tony Spring

Courtesy of Macy’s Inc.

When Spring took over as CEO of Macy’s Inc. in February, the move officially completed a planned leadership transition that was announced in March 2023, nearly a year earlier. Spring succeeded Jeff Gennette, who had held the role since 2017 and retired after 40 years with the company.

Before his ascension to CEO, Spring held various roles within the company’s Bloomingdale’s segment for about 36 years. As CEO, he now leads a company with about 720 stores under three main banners as of August. They are Macy’s, Bloomingdales and beauty brand Bluemercury, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year.

Right from the start, Spring has confronted some big business challenges. First, about a month after becoming CEO, Spring said closing 150 stores was essential to the company’s survival. The banner’s footprint, he said, was too big and built for a different era. He said the company plans to push forward with closing the stores over the next three years.

Spring has also battled with activist investors since taking over. Late last year, Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management put a $5.8 billion offer on the table to take the department store company private. Macy’s rejected it. Arkhouse and Brigade came back with a nearly $7 billion offer. Macy’s ended the takeover talks in July, citing insufficient information on how the deal would be financed and the fact that some of the financing terms would have been tied to the company’s real estate.

Despite those challenges, Spring expressed confidence in Macy’s place in the retail world during a recent Goldman Sachs global retailing conference.

“There are fewer players in our space,” Spring said, according to a transcript. “We’re going to have a healthier business. It’s going to be an assisted-selling business at Macy’s. It’s going to be a full selling experience at Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. And there are plenty of customers who don’t want to buy all of their products in off-price and mass.”

Elliot Hill, Nike

Nike announced Sept. 19 that Elliott Hill would replace John Donahoe as CEO on Oct. 14.

Hill was Nike’s president of consumer and marketplace when he retired in 2020 after 32 years with the company. In that role, he led all commercial and marketing operations for Nike and the Jordan brand. During his first run with Nike, Hill also held various senior leadership positions across Europe and North America.