Levi’s CEO to retire

Phil Marineau, the president and chief executive of Levi Strauss & co, will be leaving the denim retailer at the end of the year. It will mark the end of a seven-year ear during which he worked hard to return the company to growth. Simultaneously, the company announced the promotion of John Anderson to chief operating offer, making him the most likely candidate to succeed Marineau. “When I came to Levi’s, I told the board that I thought the appropriate tenure for an executive was seven to eight years,” Marineau told Women’s Wear Daily in an interview. “If you did the job right, you would have accomplished what you set out to do. I think that’s where we’re at. I think the turnaround has been accomplished.” Last year, Levi’s finally broke a pattern of declining sales results. Consistent earnings have yet to materialise, however, Marineau did manage to achieve top-line stability over the past three years, improved operational efficiencies, steady cash flow and the closing down of in-house manufacturing.

Anderson joined the firm in 1978. Until 1988 he was the company’s president of the Asia-Pacific region. From September 2003 to February 2004 he served as interim president of Levi Strauss Europe. His recent appointment by Marineau is a signal from the top that he has what it takes to succeed him. “Obviously, John is a candidate for that job,” Marineau told WWD. The board will be meeting in the next few weeks to discuss the succession issue. Meanwhile, the role of coo did not exist until Marineau created it for Anderson. During Marineau’s tenure, he focused on trying to get the company out of debt. “Our focus continues to be to generate free cash flow reliably to pay down debt,” he said. “Our growth has not been the number-one objective. Restoring the financial strength of the company has been…that’s still our number-one objective this year.” In the meantime, Anderson is setting his sights on China, India and South Africa as the “emerging powerhouse markets” for Levi’s and Dockers. “Consumers will demand the same type of innovation in markets around the world,” Anderson told WWD. “I think that’s an opportunity for us.”