Coldwater Creek Inc.’s chairman Dennis Pence will assume the title of chief executive officer while Georgia Shonk-Simmons, who had been president and CEO, will retain the president’s title and assume duties as chief merchandise officer, Coldwater Creek reports.
Coldwater Creek has been battling stagnant growth. “The joint-management structure is designed to allow both Pence and Shonk-Simmons to focus their individual strengths and collective expertise on the goal of establishing Coldwater Creek as one of the major brands in women's apparel,” the company said in a statement.
"This marks a return to a structure that worked very well in Coldwater Creek's corporate history," Pence said in the statement. "My personal charge from the board of directors is returning the company to our days of rapid growth, and I look forward to working toward that end for the mutual benefit of the organization and the investment community. As we continue to grow the brand through catalogs, over the Internet, and, increasingly, with the expansion of our retail store base across the country, I look forward to leveraging my sales and marketing experience and placing additional emphasis on improving our return on invested capital and operating earnings."
Dennis and Ann Pence founded Coldwater Creek in 1984. He has served as president, chief executive officer and as both chairman and vice chairman of the board of directors at various times since its incorporation in 1988.
Shonk-Simmons joined Coldwater Creek as vice president and director of merchandising in 1998. In April 1999, she was promoted to president of the catalog and retail sales division. Before coming to Coldwater Creek, she was executive vice president of the Newport News division of Spiegel.
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