The CEO of Hudson’s Bay Company — which owns the Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor department stores — stepped down on Friday.
The company said in a press release that Jerry Storch, who has led HBC since January 2015, will return to his advisory firm, Storch Advisors. His resignation will be effective November 1.
HBC says it has “retained an executive search firm” to find a replacement for Storch. In the meantime, its former CEO and current executive chairman, Richard Baker, will serve as interim CEO.
During Storch’s tenure, the Canadian-based company said it was looking to expand through mergers and acquisitions. The firm made a play to buy Macy’s earlier this year, and in mid-2015 HBC said it landed a deal to purchase struggling German retailer Galeria Kaufhof.
The executive shakeup at HBC comes at a tough time for the retail industry. As e-commerce giants and fast fashion brands have upended the industry, traditional brick-and-mortar stores have struggled to keep up.
Storch, whose advisory firm is focused on retail consultancy, alluded to those woes in a statement Friday.
“I’m looking forward to returning to my advisory firm to work with a range of companies during this transformational time for the retail industry,” Storch said, adding that he has “great confidence” HBC will “take the right actions to position HBC for leadership in the retail industry as it evolves into the future.”
HBC has had its share of struggles as of late. The company said in June that it’s cutting its workforce by about 2,000 jobs across its North American operations. The company’s share price is down nearly 27% over the past year.
