ins and outs

Barneys Finally Hired a CEO After Two Years Without One

Barneys has been without a CEO since Howard Socol resigned in 2008 amid the store’s troubling debt concerns. Former Gucci president and CEO Mark Lee will assume the role on September 1. Lee, who is 47, has worked for Saks, Giorgio Armani, and Yves Saint Laurent. Over the course of the economic meltdown, Barneys’ value plummeted, from the $942 million that parent company Istithmar purchased it for a few years ago to $350 million. The store also almost didn’t get its deliveries one season because analysts feared they wouldn’t have the money to pay for them. And oh! There were also those layoffs and that time experts said they probably could have avoided all these issues if they’d just hired a CEO and centralized management, instead of putting the company in the hands of seven executives. Good luck, Mark! At least this is one of those jobs where he can say he has a lot to work with.

Barneys Finally Hired a CEO After Two Years Without One