Target Faces Difficult CEO Search
Excerpt from WWD.com – June 19, 2014
“Murphy would be a great hire,” said Elaine Hughes, founder and CEO of E.A. Hughes & Co. “He didn’t necessarily have a track record in the [apparel] industry when he was hired at The Gap,” she said. “But Gap understood that the company was full of merchants.” Murphy cut his teeth at Lobloaws in Canada, “a supermarket chain that delivered to the market some very good candidates,” said Hughes. “You don’t have a lot of U.S. executives with that exposure. You could look into packaged good companies. Starbucks has done a good job and Pepsi within its ranks has multi brand strategy. TJX has global distribution.”
Carol Meyrowitz, CEO of the TJX Cos. Inc., is admired for running 3,000 stores in six countries since 2007 and taking revenues from about $16 billion to about $27 billion. In fiscal 2013, revenues and profits grew by double digits. Hughes believes Meyrowitz or one of her deputies would be a good candidate for the Target job. “Carol Meyrowitz took care of the whole credit card issue,” she said. “However, [TJX executives] don’t leave so readily and the people closest to Carol Meyrowitz are are close to the succession plan.”
…
For most retailers, succession is just a natural part of a retail’s circle of life, but to the surprise of experts, Target didn’t have a succession plan in place. “Some companies circulate their management so they have exposure to all areas of the company,” said Hughes. Wal-Mart moves executives across departments and geographies. But Target doesn’t seem to have a very deep bench when it comes to talent.
Target Faces Difficult CEO Search (paid WWD.com subscription required)
Article by Sharon Edelson
J. Crew’s Challenge: What’s it Worth?
Excerpt from WWD.com – June 5, 2014
Still, Elaine Hughes, president of executive search firm E.A. Hughes & Co., said Lyons should not be overlooked.
“The investment community needs to get over their infatuation with the single-genius theory,” she said. “Mickey Drexler’s success with J. Crew is well documented and at some point would be a great case study for students interested in a fashion career. However, Mickey is one of the few executives who has created succession planning at J. Crew with the unique partnership of Jenna Lyons and Libby Wadle. Jenna being the president and executive creative director and Libby as brand president. It is the marriage of art and science, or actually design and merchandising.”
Hughes said Drexler “stuck his neck out” by making a designer president. “In this case, the designer, Jenna has been able to permeate the organization with creativity on all levels while maintaining the business savvy to have equal responsibility to manage the operations, real estate, etc.” she said.
J. Crew’s Challenge: What’s it Worth? (paid WWD.com subscription required)
Article by Evan Clark
Role, challenges of CEO changing quickly
Excerpt from The Journal Gazette – May 26, 2014
Elaine Hughes, founder and CEO of E.A. Hughes, an executive search firm that specializes in retailing, said Target needs to look outside the clothing industry, and can’t just use the “same Rolodex” as the retail industry keeps using.
Role, challenges of CEO changing quickly
Article by Anne D’Innocenzio, Associated Press
Big Retailers Find It Hard Shopping for a CEO
Excerpt from online.WSJ.com – May 6, 2011
“There are not a lot of sitting CEO candidates who have had extensive experience managing both brick and mortar and online,” said Elaine Hughes, head of E.A. Hughes & Co., a small search firm that specializes in retail. Meanwhile, she said, the number of retailers seeking new leaders “is the most we have seen in five years.”
Big Retailers Find It Hard Shopping for a CEO
Article by Paul Ziobro and Joann S. Lublin
Game Changing HR Leadership Updates
The person at the helm of the Human Resources Organization continues to be a strategic asset. Having the right Senior Executive is place is more critical than ever before. We are pleased to announce these leadership updates resulting from our successful client partnerships.
Mary Pytko
EVP of Global Human Resources
Brooks Brothers
(formerly of Thomson Reuters)
Larry Fultz
SVP and CHRO Human Resources
The Limited Stores
(formerly of Tenet Health and Vanguard Health Systems)
There is no better time than now to evaluate your team and define your talent needs. Take a look at changes that are looming on the horizon.
The talent attraction landscape is changing every day. The effects of a diverse work force, technology and social media are driving the brave new world of recruiting and managing an organization.
We encourage you to reach out to us personally if we can answer any questions or if we can help you build your talent team.
Ann MacCarthy joins E.A. Hughes as Managing Partner to Drive International, Global Supply Chain and E-Commerce Growth
New York, Dec. 4, 2013– E.A. Hughes & Co., a leader in retained executive search focused exclusively on consumer-driven businesses including retail, apparel, home furnishings and beauty, announces that Ann MacCarthy has joined the firm as Managing Partner to drive international, global supply chain and e-commerce growth, focusing on all C-suite functions. She is based in New York.
“Ann’s search experience in the retail, e-commerce, apparel and consumer markets arena – complemented by functional expertise placing sales, marketing, merchandising and global supply chain officers – is helping to drive our growth strategy,” said Elaine Hughes, CEO of E.A. Hughes & Co. “Ann has developed quite a reputation in building a global supply chain and sourcing & production practice, which will serve our clients well. Her love of product, passion for the industry, and driving desire to please her clients are an excellent addition to our team of specialists. We are thrilled to have Ann on our team.”
With more than 20 years of experience in retail executive search, MacCarthy has helped build winning senior leadership teams at the president, C- level and one level below for multi-channel publicly traded, privately held and private equity firms spanning vertical specialty, wholesale, big box and department store sectors. Notable clients include J.C. Penney, Levi Strauss & Co., John Hardy, Farrow & Ball, and specialty retailers such as Claire’s Stores, Chico’s and Charming Shoppes.
She has chaired several organizations and been invited to speak at many industry functions. For more information about E.A. Hughes, please visit www.eahughes.com. You can find more information about Ann on LinkedIn.
Contact:
Ann MacCarthy
E.A. Hughes & Co.
New York Phone: +1 212-689-4600
