- Push-out Score determined
- After about a year in the position
- Molly Langenstein taking over
- Brooks will remain as Executive Chair at Chico’s FAS Inc.
- Brooks spoke at length and said 136 words
(exechange) — Fort Myers, Florida, April 30, 2020 — Bonnie Brooks, chief executive of Chico’s FAS, leaves her position. As announced by Chico’s FAS Inc. in a news release published on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 and in a regulatory filing published on Thursday, April 30, 2020, Bonnie R. Brooks leaves her post as chief executive officer at the fashion company after about a year in the role, effective June 24, 2020.
Bonnie Brooks’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Molly Langenstein, currently President, Apparel Group of Chico’s FAS Inc.
Bonnie Brooks’s move forms part of a management shake-up also involving the positions of President, Intimates Group; and Chief Operations Officer.
“To further support the Company’s future”
The management change is explained as follows. Chico’s FAS said: “On April 29, 2020, Chico’s FAS, Inc. (the “Company”) announced a leadership transition, effective June 24, 2020, designed to strengthen and provide ongoing stability and continuity to the business, and to further support the Company’s future.”
Brooks will remain as Executive Chair at Chico’s FAS Inc.
“The Company also announced that current CEO and President Bonnie Brooks, who stepped into her role in April 2019 to lead the Company’s turnaround, will now become Executive Chair of the Board of Directors and continue to oversee the Company’s strategic direction,” Chico’s FAS said.
Share price decline
The announcement follows a decline in Chico’s FAS Inc.’s share price of 65% since April 2019.
In the position of CEO since 2019
Bonnie Brooks became CEO of the Company in 2019.
Brooks has served as CEO and President of the Company since July 30, 2019 after serving as Interim CEO and President from April 24, 2019 to July 30, 2019.
Bonnie R. Brooks has been a director since 2016.
She was appointed Interim President and CEO (“Interim CEO”) of the Company effective April 24, 2019, following Shelley Broader’s resignation as President and CEO.
She has more than 30 years of global retail executive leadership experience and most recently (January 2014 to December 2016) served as the Vice Chair of Hudson’s Bay Company, a fashion retail group operating through multiple banners, including Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth and Kaufhof.
Brooks joined Hudson’s Bay in 2008 as Chief Executive Officer and President.
From 2012 to 2014, Brooks served as President of Hudson’s Bay Company, responsible for both Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor department stores USA.
From 1997 to 2008, Brooks was based in Hong Kong serving as an executive officer, including as President of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group, a women’s fashion retailer with over 500 stores in Asia, and as Global Merchandise Manager for Dickson Concepts (International) Limited, a luxury retail group and owner of Harvey Nichols, UK.
Prior to that, Brooks spent over a decade at Holt Renfrew & Company, a Canada-based fashion department store, in roles that included Executive Vice President and General Merchandise Manager.
Brooks also served on the board of directors of Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a teen apparel retailer. Brooks currently serves on the board of directors of Rogers Communications Inc., a Canadian diversified communications and media company, and is a trustee of RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, a North American real estate owner and developer.
Brooks was formerly a director of Empire Company Limited, one of Canada’s largest food retailers. She is a member of the Order of Canada.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Chico’s FAS and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 18.2020 ($).