Macy's Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette, who reduced the retailer's real estate portfolio and navigated it through the pandemic, plans to retire next year after serving the company for 40 years.
New York-based Macy's — parent of its namesake chain as well as Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury — said on Wednesday that Gennette, 61, will leave the company in February. He will be succeeded by Tony Spring, the 58-year-old chairman and CEO of the luxury chain Bloomingdale’s, who was appointed Macy’s president and CEO-elect. Spring's promotion followed "a rigorous succession planning process that included an internal and external search," according to Macy's.
In addition, Macy’s Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mitchell, 49, has had his responsibilities expanded to include the duties of chief operating officer. In the combined role, Mitchell will lead the stores, technology and supply chain teams, in addition to his existing finance and real estate responsibilities.
Gennette, who was named CEO in 2017, has guided Macy's through a variety of challenges and periods of crisis in the retail world that led other chains into bankruptcy or extinction. Perhaps his most dramatic initiative was Polaris in February 2020, a strategy meant to transform the company's real estate holdings. He reduced Macy's store fleet and the company also debuted off-price stores, Macy's Backstage, and pioneered smaller-format stores, including Market by Macy's and Bloomie's, moving out of malls. At the peak of the pandemic and afterward, Macy's bolstered its e-commerce capabilities and managed through that storm.
In a statement, Gennette said Macy's had executed its Polaris strategy "during profound industry changes and economic challenges."
Tony Spring has spent 36 years at Bloomingdale's, which delivered its highest sales volume and record customer engagement in 2022, and also repositioned Bluemercury into a growing business for Macy's. Spring has served as a key member of the Macy’s executive leadership team and "has been instrumental in the company’s transformation," according to the retailer.
Adrian Mitchell, who has been Macy's chief financial officer since November 2020, was integral in the development and execution of the company’s Polaris transformation strategy, the retailer said in a statement. Prior to joining Macy’s, Mitchell advised retailers on growth strategies using advanced data and analytics as managing director and partner in the Digital and Consumer Practices of Boston Consulting Group.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, in a note to clients on Wednesday, lauded Gennette for his "nimble response to the pandemic, the enhancement of the online proposition, [and] the willingness to make tough decisions on store closures."
But he also offered criticism.
"While Macy’s has no shortage of strategies and is great at talking a good game, it consistently fails to execute well," Saunders said. "As a consequence, it has not arrested the decline in relevance and market share. Current management must shoulder some of the blame for this, not least because it has a habit of ignoring hard truths about the business and often seems disconnected from the realities on the ground in both stores and the wider retail market."
Saunders warned, "Thanks to Mr. Gennette, Macy’s isn’t dead or even circling the drain. However, it is still on a perilous glide path with weak long-term prospects. It is the job of the new CEO to change this trajectory and not to simply stick to the current course."