Jill Granoff has stepped down as chief executive officer of Kenneth Cole. The decision came about “by mutual agreement,” according to Women’s Wear Daily. Her resignation is effective immediately, and includes resignation from the Kenneth Cole board.
There’s no word yet on her replacement, but Kenneth Cole will do the job until another candidate can be found. Cole is no stranger to the position, as he held it until Granoff took the reins in May 2008.
The Kenneth Cole offices don’t feel too empty though, as Paul Blum has returned to the fold. He left the company after fifteen years to work as David Yurman’s chief executive officer in 2006. However he’s now back to his old stomping ground and working as the vice-chairman.
Kenneth Cole lost $2.7 million for the period ending December 31, but that’s a lot better than the $52 million loss it suffered the year before. Chief financial officer David Edelman says he’s confident the business is on the way up.
“We believe that our business is now positioned to take advantage of significant untapped opportunities for growth. We have closed our underperforming stores, put new leadership in place and, once the near-term impact of our decision to close underperforming stores is behind us, we expect to see a financial benefit that far outweighs these short-term costs,” he said.
Do you think the recent internal changes will help Kenneth Cole turn it all around?
[Source: The Cut]
[Image Source: Manfred Werner/Wikipedia Commons]
