Eileen Fisher To Step Down From Chief Executive Role

Eileen Fisher is planning to step down from the chief executive position at her namesake brand, which operates 58 retail stores and employs 772 people.

The company has hired New York-based executive search firm Kirk Palmer Associates to find a replacement CEO starting next year. Fisher is expected to continue to oversee design efforts but will eventually step away from that role as well.

“I have tried before to let go and it’s just that I’m ready now. It’s the right time. It’s clear to me,” Fisher said. “It’s been an intense year with COVID and all, and it’s been an opportunity to rethink and reorganize the business and sort of simplify and bring it back to what I originally intended.”

“I’ve been working on what is this body of work, what is this company, both the design philosophy and trying to set down a blueprint of what that work is because I’ve watched it go in and out over the years and become less of what I’ve wanted. I’m still in the midst and finishing that work. We have seen a big transformation, and I feel more clear of what I’m preparing to hand over,” she added.

Fisher expects her replacement to come from the apparel industry or another sector that is more focused on driving sustainability efforts.

“I picture the person coming out of apparel, I am not certain that it has to be,” she said. “It could be open.”

Fisher currently owns a 60 percent stake in the company, while the company’s employees own the remaining stake.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on October 19, 2021.