Dive Brief:
- Vince Holding Corp. announced that its chief financial officer, John Szczepanski, is exiting the company on March 28, according to a Wednesday press release. Upon Szczepanski’s departure from Vince, Yuji Okumura, the company’s current vice president and controller, will become interim chief financial officer.
- Szczepanski is joining The Children’s Place as CFO effective March 31, per a separate announcement. He will report to interim CEO Muhammad Umair and oversee finance, accounting, investor relations, tax, procurement and other functions for the children’s apparel retailer.
- Okumura, Szczepanski’s interim replacement at Vince, joined the company in 2018 as its director of financial reporting and became its vice president and controller in 2020. He also spent more than 11 years in public accounting at KPMG U.S.
Dive Insight:
Vince’s CFO exit is the latest C-suite departure after CEO Jack Schwefel resigned from his role about a year ago.
Former CEO Brendan Hoffman returned to the company to take the helm earlier this year following Vince’s acquisition by P180, a luxury retail innovation firm, which bought a majority stake in the company from Sun Capital Partners. Szczepanski joined Vince in November 2023, after spending 20 years at Ralph Lauren in multiple finance leadership positions.
In a statement, Hoffman thanked Szczepanski for his contributions and expressed confidence in Okumura’s abilities.
“Yuji brings valuable experience and a deep understanding of our financial operations that will be instrumental as we enter a new chapter for the company,” Hoffman said in a statement. “This internal promotion also reflects our commitment to recognizing talent within our organization and ensures strong leadership continuity.”
It’s been a bumpy ride recently at Vince. The brand signed a deal with Authentic Brands Group in 2023 to sell its intellectual property for $76.5 million in cash and a 25% stake in a newly created subsidiary that controls the assets. However, the deal also required Vince to pay royalty fees, weighing down its profit margin in subsequent earnings reports. In the company’s third-quarter results, net sales dipped 4.7% year over year to $80.2 million. The decline was due to an 8.3% decrease in direct-to-consumer sales and a 2.2% slip in wholesale.
In its CFO change announcement, the company maintained its previous 2024 guidance, which calls for net sales to decline in the low-single-digit range.
Szczepanski’s arrival at The Children’s Place is likewise one of several changes there. At the same time as his arrival, The Children’s Place also announced Vineyard Vines’ exec Kristin Clifford joined as senior vice president and head of sourcing, and Crocs’ leader Smeeta Khetarpaul joined as senior vice president and head of marketing. Both of those appointments came in February and both report to Brand President Claudia Lima-Guinehut.
