Why Macy’s is making so many changes to its senior-level leadership
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi, Myles Udland, and Julie Hyman discuss the shakeup in Macy’s leadership teams.
Video Transcript
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JULIE HYMAN: It is time for our daily Sozzi's Takes. Today, you are looking once again at Macy's. It's a frequent take target, I think we can say. And the company is doing a management reshuffle, it sounds like. What's up, Brian?
BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, the axe is definitely swinging over at Macy's, guys. So let me just run that list of humans that will be departing Macy's. COO John Harper, wave goodbye to him. He joined the company in January 2020. He's now waving piece out. Next up, Naveen Krishna, he's the chief tech officer. He joined in June 2018. He's departing. Marla Beck, co-founder of Bluemercury, that is the cosmetics brand that Macy's bought for $210 million in 2015, she's leaving. See you later.
And last but not least, Doug Sesler, he has been heading up the company's real estate strategy. In many respects, I would say he has saved the company. He has brought a lot of cash into that business. He is saying goodbye.
Now, I know next we have another graphic too. This just continues really a year and a half of a lot of executive change and turnover. The door continues to swing at Macy's. And a lot of the executives have left the company, a couple of changes in the CFO suite, new communications chief.
And I put together a couple of reasons why I think this is happening. I just put these together on the fly right now. CEO Jeff Gennette, he may just not be good at identifying key executive talent. Number two, Gennette just not be good at making major quick decisions when executives are not delivering. And that clearly has been the case at Macy's for two years. Stock is down close to about 40% over that time frame.
Next but not least that is Gennette himself. He's been there since 1983. And you have to wonder if he's part of the problem or part of the solution, where he doesn't want upset that Macy's story, Macy's culture that he's been part of for many, many years.
And then last but not least, maybe the situation Macy's is just really not good, where these executives do not want to be a part of this team. And they see other opportunities elsewhere. This company in the past 2 and 1/2 years has undergone a massive, massive restructuring. And even coming out of the holiday quarter, there are no indications that that restructuring is going to be done any time soon. A lot more store closures are coming down the pike. And if you're an executive, why do you want that on your resume?
MYLES UDLAND: Sozzi, when is anyone from Macy's going to talk to you after all this? Are they going to bring in someone who says, all right, I'll deal with this guy over at Yahoo Finance who just trashes the company all the time?
BRIAN SOZZI: I have no comment on that, Myles. My reporting leads with the numbers.
MYLES UDLAND: All right, there you go.
JULIE HYMAN: OK.
MYLES UDLAND: And so we wait. And so we wait for the next tell-all from, I suppose, the next Macy's CEO because I don't Jeff Gennette-- although, Sozz, I remember you talked to him on Black Friday a couple of years ago. It seemed like things were fine then.
BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, again, no comment.
JULIE HYMAN: OK. So we're going to take a break on that note.
