Breaking! Urban Outfitters CEO Glen Senk resigns

Women’s Wear Daily (subscription required) is reporting that Glen Senk has resigned as Urban Outfitters CEO. He will be replaced by company founder Richard Hayne, though it’s unclear whether this is a temporary or permanent move. Update 5:42 PM: Here’s Bloomberg’s article which you can actually read in its entirety!

This is shocking news! Mr. Senk has a great reputation in the industry and a positively trending approval rating internally. Though recent quarterly performances have not been as strong as expected for the company, Mr. Senk has maintained a positive outlook and emphasized that the right team was in place to turn things around.

It seems Mr. Hayne did not agree. From the recent new Anthropologie leadership appointments to Urban’s holiday performance, which saw record sales but equally aggressive promotions to drive those sales, the company has decided a change was needed.

While my disappointment with Anthropologie continues I am seeing positive signs as the design leadership installed about 9 months ago begins to gel and show their influence. It’s really too bad that Mr. Senk won’t be around to see the fruits of these changes. From all reports I’ve gotten he was a strong, competent leader that people liked to work for. I can’t say anything for Mr. Hayne’s leadership but I can say that his personal choices bother me deeply and I will be thinking twice about my purchases knowing that they may go to support his outlandish causes. It was one thing to have him in a chairman role where he was removed from the day-to-day. The CEO is the face of the company, another story altogether.  

More on this as details come together — this post will likely be updated. What’s your initial reaction to the news?


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