Departing Signet CEO Gina Drosos
Courtesy of Signet JewelersSignet Jewelers of Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Blue Nile, Diamonds Direct and James Allen fame just announced that CEO Gina Drosos will retire on November 4, after serving the company on the board for 12 years, including seven as CEO.
PetSmart CEO J.K. Symancyk will fill her very capable shoes at Signet, as it executes a carefully planned leadership succession strategy.
However, PetSmart was caught unawares when Symancyk announced his leaving a day before Signet made its announcement. Now the company’s chief executive vice president and chief financial officer Alan Schnaid will serve as interim CEO until a successor is found.
Step Up
For Symancyk, it will be a major step up in responsibilities, going from overseeing 1,700 pet stores, including 200 in-store PetsHotels boarding facilities as well as a range of pet services to managing Signet, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry with some 2,700 stores under 11 brand banners.
He will also be moving from a private to a public company, though he served two years prior to joining PetSmart in 2018 as CEO of Academy Sports + Outdoors.
And he will be entering an entirely new retail vertical, though he’s done that before, going from president of grocery chain Meijer to sporting goods then onto pets.
“I am honored to join Signet as its next CEO and continue advancing the strategy that Gina and the team have established,” Symancyk said in a statement.
“I am passionate about serving customers and I recognize the emotional connection of Signet’s customers when they are making a jewelry purchase. One of the key attributes that drew me to Signet is its purpose-driven and agile culture and focus on putting its team members and customers first,” he continued.
Bittersweet Parting
For Drosos, it will be a bittersweet parting from a company she did so much for and that did so much for her.
“It’s always a good thing to go out on a high,” she shared with me. “It’s not a sudden departure, by any stretch. I’ve been talking with the board of directors for more than a year to get the timing right and allowing for plenty of time to find a successor. The whole governance around this has been spot on, just the way a good company should do it.”
Drosos has racked up any number of accomplishments under her “Inspiring Brilliance” plan, including:
- Growing revenues from $6.1 billion in fiscal 2020 to $7.2 billion in 2024 and reaching 9.9% market share in U.S. jewelry retail up from 6.6%.
- Delivered over $2 billion to shareholders through dividends, share repurchases and retirement of convertible shares during her tenure. Stock prices grew from $19 and change at the start of 2020 to close just under $95 per share on October 2.
- Boosted free cash flow conversion by over 70% and increased operating margin by the same. And outstanding gross debt was reduced by over 90%
- Managed the pandemic disruption and its aftermath and quadrupled e-commerce sales to 23% of revenue while transitioning brick-and-mortar retail from primarily mall-based to off-mall destinations. Mall revenues have dropped from 60% to less than 35% of revenues.
- Grew Signet by acquiring Blue Nile, Diamonds Direct and Rocksbox, clearly differentiated its existing banners to target the optimum target customers for each and eliminated consumer credit from the balance sheet through third-party partnerships that expanded financing options. The result is that Signet banners now appeal to 80% of jewelry customers, up from about 50%, according to the company.
But perhaps Drosos is most proud of the corporate culture she helped build at Signet, including being named by Forbes as one of its “Best Employers for Women” and “Best Employers for Diversity.”
“We’ve built one of the strongest teams in retail. It’s one of innovation, agility, with a results orientation and strong purpose,” she said adding that critical to the succession plan was finding a leader who would preserve and further build the corporate culture.
“J.K. comes into an environment that will be very welcoming to him, that will stand beside him, learn from him in the areas he knows and also be able to give him the opportunity to learn in areas that are new to him,” she said.
Crash Course In Jewelry Retail
Symancyk will get a crash course in jewelry retail over the holiday period, by far Signet’s prime selling season and Drosos will lend a guiding hand during the transition period through the end of the fiscal year in early February.
Current president Jamie Singleton will continue to manage the company’s biggest banners including Kay, Zales, Peoples and Banter by Piercing Pagoda.
Plus with Drosos’ retirement, CFO Joan Hilson will take on an expanded role as both chief financial and operating officer, overseeing the supply chain and Signet’s digital Blue Nile and James Allen banners, along with her continued responsibilities over Rocksbox, finance, strategy, real estate and the Signet services business, which is expected to contribute over $1 billion to the company in the future.
Through the course of Signet’s extended succession planning, it believes it’s found the right successor to Drosos to keep the company on its forward course, though Drosos said “Change is a great accelerator,” suggesting that Signet is likely to pick up steam in the years ahead.
Regarding Symancyk’s appointment, Helen McCluskey, chairperson of Signet’s board of directors added in a statement:
“He is a strong leader with more than three decades of experience across the retail industry and proven expertise in driving strategic growth, focusing on the customer, and developing and sustaining high performing leadership teams that deliver results.
“J.K. has overseen the expansion of large-scale businesses with multi-branded portfolios as well as services businesses, and brings important merchandising and operational skills to the role.”
PetSmart’s Replacement Challenge
Now PetSmart is in the unenviable position of replacing Symancyk, which will likely take an extended time. While CEO turnover reached an all-time high last year, up from 1,261 CEO exits in 2022 to 1,450 in 2023, according to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, churn at the CEO level is not necessarily a good thing.
“Long-time and older leaders appear to be stepping down during this period, something we haven’t seen since the pandemic,” the firm’s Andrew Challenger said.
Notably, both Drosos and Symancyk reached the nearly seven year tenure mark for outgoing retail CEOs, based on Korn Ferry’s analysis. And PetSmart’s primary competitor, Petco scooped up Joel Anderson as CEO after he abruptly vacated his CEO role at Five Below earlier this summer.
Given the current headwinds in retail, bruised by rising inflation and declining consumer confidence, plus a pending supply chain crisis from the longshoremen’s strike, escalating geopolitical conflicts, the divisive upcoming election and all-round economic uncertainty, promising CEO candidates are likely to stay put in their current jobs. Or, if they’ve walked away from a previous position, they may be inclined to remain on the side lines until the present uncertainty clears.
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