Dive Brief:
- Apparel manufacturer and retailer Guess said Monday that Markus Neubrand is resigning as an officer of the company to pursue another opportunity that “will bring him closer to his family,” according to a press release and securities filing. His exit comes roughly a year after Neubrand, a former CFO of Hugo Boss Americas, took the Guess CFO role, which was to be based out of the company’s Switzerland headquarters.
- The company has begun a search for Neubrand’s permanent replacement and is once again turning to Dennis Secor, 61, a veteran finance executive, to hold its finance reins on an interim basis, effective Aug. 26. Secor, who is currently executive vice president, finance at Guess, served as the company’s finance chief from 2006 to 2012 and also was interim CFO from April 2022 to July 2023.
- “It’s a transformative time at [Guess] and I’m ready to hit the ground running as the team works to build on our forward momentum, strengthen our brands and continue to deliver value for our shareholders,” Secor said in a statement included in the release.
Dive Insight:
Neubrand’s departure comes as the company is taking steps to reposition itself. In February Guess and the global brand management firm WHP Global announced an agreement to acquire the New York-based fashion brand Rag & Bone in what Guess co-founder Paul Marciano called the company’s first acquisition in its 43-year history, according to a statement in a release at that time.
In a November conference call CEO Carlos Alberini also said the company was working to reclaim its “denim legacy,” citing a focus on new retail concepts as well as providing more “dressy” offerings along with the “more casual product assortment that was part of our brand’s DNA” since its inception.
The company completed the acquisition of Rag & Bone in its fiscal first quarter ended May 4, and reported GAAP net earnings of $13 million compared to a GAAP net loss of $11.8 million for the year-earlier period, according to a May 30 release. But it still faces some headwinds, with revenues for its Americas retail business flat for the quarter where it continues to expect “softness” in certain areas due to slower customer traffic.
Secor will serve as the company’s CFO from Aug. 26 through March 31, with an annual base salary for the period of $750,000 and an annual base salary of $240,000 for any time after that date, according to the filing. He will also be entitled to a retention bonus of $350,000 subject to his employment through Aug. 25.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
