Macy's Gennette to retire; Bloomingdale's Spring is new CEO

Friday, March 24, 2023, Vol. 47, No. 13

NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette will retire at the end of the fiscal year will be succeeded by Bloomingdale's Chairman and CEO Tony Spring.

Macy's owns Bloomindale's, as well as the cosmetics chain Bluemercury.

Gennette, 61, guided the retailer through the pandemic after taking the top job at Macy's in March 2017. He became chairman the following year. Gennette has worked at Macy's for 40 years, serving in roles including president, chief merchandising officer and vice president and division merchandise manager for men's collections. Gennette started in retail in 1983 as an executive trainee at Macy's West in San Francisco.

Earlier this month Macy's reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street's expectations. The chain remained relatively positive about its profit this year.

Spring, 58, will become president and CEO-elect immediately, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, and is expected to be appointed as permanent CEO in February. He will take a board seat on Saturday and will have an annual salary of $1 million, plus incentives.

Spring has been an executive vice president at Macy's since 2021 and has worked in various positions at Bloomingdale's for 35 years.

Macy said that as president, Spring will be responsible for leading its digital, customer, merchandising, and brand teams, while also overseeing Bloomingdale's and bluemercury.

Macy's board, which currently has 14 members, will increase its size to 16 directors.

Macy's Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mitchell will be taking on the additional role of chief operating officer. The 49 year-old has been CFO since 2020. He will now lead the stores, technology and supply chain teams in addition to handling his existing finance and real estate responsibilities.

Macy's Inc. is based in Cincinnati. Shares fell slightly before the opening bell on Wednesday.