The openly gay CEO of clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, has announced he is stepping down.
Jeffries has headed the clothing brand for over two decades – and was one of the only openly gay business leaders in the US, reports Pink News.
Jeffries will retire immediately as CEO and a member of the board, the company said today in a statement. The board is now seeking a replacement and has enlisted an executive-search firm to identify both internal and external candidates.
The frequently outspoken business leader had caused controversy multiple times – for only hiring ‘good looking’ employees, and for claiming the company doesn’t make large sizes because he doesn’t want overweight people wearing their brand.
He has said previously: “That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.
According to Bloomberg.com, Jeffries, 70, came under fire after the Abercrombie and Hollister clothing lines lost their cachet with teenage shoppers. The company also suffered from a broader drop in shopping-mall traffic, contributing to 11 quarters of same-store sales declines and a 77 percent plunge in profit last year. Jeffries’s departure reflects a change in strategy, said Simeon Siegel, a New York-based analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc.
“This is what people have been waiting for,” he said. “They’ve not been happy with the results. So in theory, change is good.”
