Joann names retail veteran as interim CEO; search underway

After exiting bankruptcy, Joann has named an interim CEO and a new board of directors.

The fabrics and crafts retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in March and exited court-supervised reorganization in late April, has appointed Michael Prendergast, a managing director in Alvarez & Marsal’s consumer and retail group, as interim CEO. A search for a permanent CEO is under way.

Prendergast brings over 20 years of leadership experience from the fashion and consumer products industries to Joann. He has held a number of CEO positions in his career, including interim CEO of Francesca’s, CEO of Maxima Holdings and CEO of Iconix Brand Group’s youth & entertainment division. 

Other top positions Prendergast has held include group president of Chaps by Ralph Lauren and senior VP of Tommy Hilfiger.

Chris DiTullio and Scott Sekella, who served as co-leads of the Interim Office of the CEO since May 2023 and led Joann through its Chapter 11 process, will continue as chief customer officer and chief financial officer, respectively.  

Under the retailer’s bankruptcy restructuring, Joann’s creditors agreed to cancel some $505 million of the company’s nearly $1.1 billion in long-term debt. Upon exiting bankruptcy, Joann is now a private company owned by some of its creditors.

Joann noted that its more than 800 stores have remained open during the process and that it was able to preserve the jobs of its more than 18,000 associates.

Board

In addition to appointing an interim CEO, Joann announced the appointment of a new board. The members are below. 

• Mary Campbell has served on the Kontoor Brands board since February 2024 and the Leggett & Platt, Inc. board since 2019. She was previously the president of vCommerce of Qurate Retail Group until her retirement in 2023. Most recently, and prior to serving as president of vCommerce, she served as chief merchandising officer of Qurate Retail Group and chief commerce officer of QVC from 2018 to 2022. Prior to that, she held the position of chief digital, content and platforms officer of QVC.
• Joe Hartsig is a managing director at Raines International where he leads the retail and business services practices. He was the chief merchandising officer for Bed Bath & Beyond from 2022 to 2022, and previously served as the chief merchandising officer/head of retail products division at Walgreens from 2016 to 2020.
• Darrell Horn serves in a strategic advisory role with Green Square clients, advising on investment strategies to meet clients’ long-term objectives. He also serves as an advisor and consultant regarding private business strategies ranging from exit options, re-capitalization strategies, shareholder strategies and more. Prior to founding Green Square in 2001, he held positions at Goldman Sachs, SunTrust Bank and First American Bank.
• Michelle Israel joined Consensus Advisors as a Strategic Advisor in 2023 after playing a senior role in the leadership of both Macy’s and Bloomingdales. From 2020 to 2022, she was senior VP for beauty and center core at Macys. From 2015 to 2020, Israel led Macy’s Off Price growth strategy, building out the Bloomingdales Outlets business and opening nearly 175 Macy’s Backstage outlets.
• Bill Wall manages special situations and identifies distressed investment opportunities for Fidelity’s High Income and Alternatives Group. Before rejoining Fidelity in 2020, Wall was a partner at OQ Partners investing in small private start-ups and served as a director of several public companies. He also served as general counsel at Abrams Capital, an investment firm focused on public and private investments. Previously, he was a founding partner at a hedge fund, Andover Capital, and spent seven years at Fidelity in various investment and legal roles.

“We are honored to join what is truly a new Joann, and we look forward to supporting the company and its leadership team in its mission to inspire creativity,” said Horn, who will serve as interim chairman of the board. “On behalf of the board, we’d like to thank Chris and Scott for their extraordinary leadership through the past year, which has brought the company to its strongest financial foundation in many years. We are confident Michael’s expertise in retail will help the company continue its positive momentum while we commence a search for the new president and CEO, and we look forward to a bright future for this unique brand.”

Based in Ohio, Joann operates more than 800 store locations across 49 states and a robust e-commerce business.