It’s been a less-than-stellar year for Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries.
Insensitive remarks he made a few years ago about not wanting “overweight” people shopping in the company’s stores went viral, unleashing a major backlash against the brand.
Although he apologized, the damage was done, and the company’s sales began to suffer so much that they were recently forced to add larger sizes to cater to more consumers.
Apparently, that still wasn’t enough to bring customers back, so now the brand’s investors have called for Jeffries to resign!
In a letter to the company, investor Engaged Capital wrote:
“Investors in Abercrombie have endured poor performance due to poor leadership for far too long. The Board needs to come to the same conclusion that everyone else already has – it is time for new leadership at ANF. The renewal of Mr. Jeffries’s employment contract would be a direct contradiction to what shareholders want and the Company needs. ANF’s future success will be dependent on the Company’s ability to adapt to a fast changing retail environment, carefully manage expenses, and efficiently allocate capital. We urge the Board to immediately commence a CEO search for candidates with relevant retail apparel and turnaround experience or consider a sale of the Company.”
Dayum! They’re not messing around!
And they even added a pretty damning assessment of the brand by CNBC’s Jim Cramer that called out Jeffries specifically:
“This used to be the hottest teen brand in the world, yet under Jeffries’s recent leadership, Abercrombie & Fitch has become practically irrelevant.”
Ouch! Harsh but accurate!
After the letter was made public, shares of A&F actually ROSE 7.3%, which seems to suggest that many others would like to see a change of leadership at the company.
Jeffries is still at the helm for now, but we wouldn’t be surprised if had to start looking for new employment soon.
You can read the letter in its entirety HERE!
[Image via WENN.]
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