This year’s honorees include a Midwest retailer and two multi-store independents, one in New York and the other in New England.
Signet CFO Leaving the Company in 2019
Michele Santana is “pursuing other opportunities” after eight years with the retail jeweler.

Akron, Ohio—Signet’s chief financial officer will leave the company next year to “pursue other opportunities,” the retailer announced Thursday.
Michele Santana has been with Signet since 2010, when she started as senior vice president and financial controller, and was promoted to CFO in 2014.
During her eight years with the retail jeweler, she oversaw the acquisition of Ultra Stores Inc. in 2012, the 2014 purchase of Zale Corp. and, most recently, the acquisition of James Allen parent company R2Net.
Santana also executed the company’s outsourcing of its credit programs, which it completed in July, and developed the cost optimization program for the three-year turnaround plan launched in March.
“I see this as the right time for me to move on to new challenges, and I look forward to facilitating a smooth transition. I am confident that Signet is well positioned to reach exciting new heights,” Santana said in a company statement issued Thursday, the same day the retailer reported its second quarter sales results.
Signet said it has begun looking outside the company for Santana’s replacement and expects to have someone in the role by the end of its current fiscal year in January 2019.
Santana will continue as CFO until her successor is found and will be in an advisory role after that, including into 2019.
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