Specialty retailing veteran Michael W. Barnes has been named Chairman, President and CEO of Francesca’s Holdings Corp., effective immediately. He succeeds Neill Davis, who has resigned from the position.
Barnes previously served as CEO of Signet Jewelers, Ltd., and led the company’s $1.46 billion acquisition of Zale Corp. The acquisition transformed Signet into the largest specialty jewelry retailer in the U.S., UK and Canada. During Barnes’ four-year tenure with the company, Signet’s share price nearly tripled.
During his career, Barnes spent more than 25 years in several senior roles at Fossil Group, Inc. Prior to joining Signet, he served as President, Chief Operating Officer and Director from 2007 to 2010.
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“Mike Barnes is a world-class retail executive with a proven history of driving growth at specialty retailing businesses,” said Greg Brenneman, Chairman of the Board at Francesca’s. “His ability to set and execute transformational strategic plans, along with his track record of creating value for shareholders, make him the right executive to capitalize fully on Francesca’s solid growth platform.”
With the new executive appointment, Francesca’s revealed preliminary results for Q3 2014. The company expects net sales of approximately $87 million, a comparable decrease of 6%.
