Majors

John Hardy CEO Robert Hanson Steps Down

MajorsApr 29, 2019

John Hardy CEO Robert Hanson Steps Down

Chief Revenue Officer Kareen Gahed will take over while Hanson serves as a non-executive chairman of the board.

20190429_John_Hardy_CEO_Robert_Hanson.jpg

New York—John Hardy CEO Robert Hanson is stepping down, the luxury jeweler announced Thursday, bringing some shake-up to the executive board.

Hanson has held the role since 2014. He will now serve as non-executive chairman of the board.

Hanson will join Constellation Brands, the alcoholic beverage company behind Corona and Modelo, as its new executive vice president and the president of its wine and spirits division on June 3, the company announced Friday.

He was previously a director at the company but resigned from the board to fill the new role.

Hanson also sits on the board of directors at Canopy Growth, the first publicly-traded cannabis company in North America, in which Constellation invested $4 billion back in August 2018.


Chief Revenue Officer Kareen Gahed (left) will step up as CEO while COO and CFO Audrey Finci (pictured at right) will also take on the role of president.

 
Chief Revenue Officer Kareen Gahed, who joined John Hardy three years ago, will take Hanson’s place.

The retail veteran previously served as John Hardy’s senior vice president of operations, also holding positions at Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale, as per his LinkedIn profile.

“It is an honor to become the next CEO of John Hardy, and I am excited for the opportunity to continue to work closely with Robert, Audrey and the entire board and management team as we continue to build momentum,” Gahed said in a statement.

Gahed will take over merchandising and marketing operations immediately, while Hanson will continue overseeing product creation, operations and finance until the transition period has ended.

The transition is expected to occur over the next three quarters, a company spokesperson confirmed.

Audrey Finci, current chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will take on the added role of president.

Finci previously served as executive vice president of Disney’s consumer products division and also held corporate strategy and operations roles at Levi Strauss & Co and Gap Inc.
Lenore Fedowis the senior editor, news at National Jeweler, covering the retail beat and the business side of jewelry.

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