“I’m excited about my business, and I’m not leaving”.
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Earnings have been squeezed by the impact of the strong dollar and intense competition in the luxury retail space, with Ralph Lauren’s share price falling 44% this year at the time of this writing.
The former H&M executive has run Gap’s Old Navy, a family brand which produces low cost clothes, for the past three years. Ralph Lauren announced that he is stepping down as CEO of the eponymous company he founded. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ralph Lauren Corp from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd.
The more elegant European look caught on and he soon was selling his wares to big New York department stores and in his own tie shop. Founder and namesake Ralph Lauren, who is also the company’s CEO today, will continue to “drive the company’s vision and strategy” as executive chairman and chief creative officer, according to the company. “It’s a public company, and we have a responsibility to have the right leadership”, he said in the interview at his office.
Larsson, 41, had been in his Old Navy role since 2012, and previously spent 15 years at retailer H&M.
Shares of Ralph Lauren (RL) soared in in Wednesday morning trading, the day after the fashion industry icon announced he was giving up the CEO title at the company that bears his name. “That said, our long-term fundamental concerns have not yet waned-we are concerned by slowing wholesale growth, weakening DTC trends (e-com & store traffic) and pricing integrity”. Larsson got right to work installing processes to get Old Navy to deliver products more quickly to consumers.
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San Francisco-based Gap (GPS) said Jill Stanton would lead Old Navy in the interim while it searches for a permanent replacement. We have had tremendous success expanding the Ralph Lauren brands around the world and creating a great management team. She’s been with the company for four years and has been a VP of global apparel for Nike. He will leave the Old Navy on October 2 and will join the board in November.
