Chico’s Names New CEO

Fort Myers, Fla. Chico’s FAS said Thursday it named former Tommy Hilfiger Inc. and Land's End executive David F. Dyer as its new president and CEO. Dyer, who has served on the company's board of directors since 2007, succeeds Scott A. Edmonds, who informed Chico’s on Jan. 7 that he is retiring and submitted his resignation as an officer and director.

“Having overseen the growth of the company, established its strong financial position, and completed its operational transition from a single brand to a multi-brand, multichannel retailer, Mr. Edmonds feels it is now time to hand the company over to new leadership — and the board agrees with this decision,” said Ross E. Roeder, the company's lead director and newly-named non-executive chairman of the board.

Chico’s new CEO served as president, chief executive and director of Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. from August 2003 until its sale in May 2006. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Lands' End from Nov. 1998 until its June 2002 sale to Sears Roebuck and Co. Following the sale, he joined Sears as executive VP. Dyer has also served as acting president of J. Crew and president and COO of Home Shopping Network.

The announcement came as the retailer reported a December same-store sale decline of 12.4%, which just missed Wall Street's expectations.

For the five-weeks ended Jan. 3, total sales slipped 10% to $163.4 million. Year-to-date same-store sales fell 15% while total sales dropped 8% to $1.49 billion.