Macy's New Hire To Lead Finance And Operations Functions Fails To Reverse Retail's Highly Bearish Stance

Department store chain Macy's Inc (M) has hired Capri Holdings (CPRI) top executive Thomas Edwards as its new chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He starts on Jun. 22.

Edwards succeeds Adrian Mitchell, who served as CFO since November 2020 and COO since March 2023.

Macy's shares gained 2.5%, while Capri's dropped 1.9% after Macy's announced the appointment on Tuesday.

The move comes as the chain reorganizes its operations under Tony Spring, who took over as the firm's CEO last year.

Spring has made several leadership ship changes and is implementing a strategy to rationalize and improve its stores.

Macy's, which faces competition from e-commerce players such as Amazon.com (AMZN), closed 64 stores last year and expects to close 86 more in the next two years.

Its shares hit their lowest level in a year on March 31.

Meanwhile, Edwards' soon-to-be former company, Capri, is looking to sell its Versace business after a failed deal with Tapestry Inc (TPR).

Capri has been losing market share, and S&P Global Ratings recently downgraded its credit rating to junk, citing high debt.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Macy's was 'extremely bearish' and message volume was 'low', unchanged from the previous day.

M sentiment and message volume as of April 1 | Source: Stocktwits

One user remarked on the stock price, saying that it's a “fire sale” level.

Macy's shares are down 24% year to date.

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