Calvin McDonald, the former head of Sears Canada, has been named president and chief executive of beauty retail chain, Sephora Americas. He joins the company’s San Francisco office Jan. 1, 2014.
McDonald, who joined the struggling retail chain in 2011 after nearly two decades with Loblaw Companies Limited, stepped down from his post last month. Douglas Campbell, who has been Sears Canada’s chief operating officer since November replaces McDonald.
Sephora Americas is owned by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and operates more than 330 free-standing stores in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to 400 boutiques inside JCPenney locations.
In a release, McDonald said Sephora, “is known across the retail industry for not only having revolutionized the beauty business but also for delivering a consistent stream of innovation in terms of merchandise, experience and digital capabilities that excite and inspire customers.”
Reports suggest McDonald’s departure from Sears was sparked by a dispute he had with Sears Holding Company. An unidentified source told The Globe and Mail that the disagreement was tied to “the pace at which capital was being deployed to keep the momentum of the transformation going.” Sears Canada spokesman Vince Power said he was unaware of any dispute.
While at Sears, McDonald introduced a three-year plan to turnaround the department store chain. Part of that strategy involved significant store refreshes and shifting focus to what he called “key hero categories” such as major appliances, mattresses and furniture.
McDonald also introduced a new brand platform and tagline, a slightly altered version of its longtime logo as well as a quarterly oversized flyer called the Look Report.
In August, Sears reported that its second-quarter revenue was down 9.6% from the same time last year. Revenue for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 3 was $960.1 million, down from $1.06 billion a year earlier.
Part of the revenue decline was a reduced number of locations, but same-store sales were also down 2.5%.
Sears would have lost $11-million loss in the quarter except for an agreement to vacate two Toronto-area stores by March. With unusual gain, Sears Canada’s net income was $152.8 million.
