Macy’s CEO to retire in 2024, succeeded by Tony Spring

BLOOMBERG

Macy’s Inc Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Gennette will retire in February after nearly seven years of navigating a difficult department-store landscape, ceding the position to Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring.
Spring, 58, who has been CEO at the high-end Bloomingdale’s chain since 2014 and joined the company in 1987, will serve as president of Macy’s until the 61-year-old Gennette’s retirement next year. In that role,
he’ll lead Macy’s digital, customer, merchandising and brand teams, while overseeing the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands.
Gennette has led Macy’s in recent years through an ongoing turnaround strategy called Polaris, which has included store closures and new store formats, job cuts and a focus on digital offerings.
He joined Macy’s in 1983 as an executive trainee and worked his way up the executive ranks before becoming CEO in 2017.
“We are a smaller, scrappier, more customer-focussed company than we were when we went into the pandemic,” Gennette said in an interview, noting Macy’s workforce has fallen to about 92,000 employees from 125,000.
“We’ve eliminated layers, increased spans of control and really focussed on how this team will become a modern department store.”
Gennette said Macy’s spent two years working to figure out the transition plan. “I’m looking forward to spending more quality time with my family, but I’m still going to be relatively young,” he said, adding that he isn’t looking for another CEO role but might not retire from the workforce completely.
The company also said that it will expand Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mitchell’s responsibilities to include the role of chief operating officer, effective from April 1.
In addition to his existing finance and real estate duties, Mitchell will lead the store operations, technology and supply-chain teams.
The transition plan is similar to the one announced by Levi Strauss & Co in November, in which current CEO Chip Bergh will be replaced by Michelle Gass after about 18 months of overlap.
Macy’s is recruiting a replacement for Spring as head of Bloomingdale’s, the company said. New York-based Macy’s reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, thanks in part to strong performance at both Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.
While the company’s shares have risen 31% since February 2020, before the pandemic hit the US, they’ve fallen nearly 16% since the start of the year.