Jacobson's Hires New CEO

Jacobson Stores Inc. (Jackson, Mich.) has appointed Carol Williams as president and ceo. The former executive vp of merchandising for the Saks Department Store Group (Birmingham, Ala.) succeeds P. Gerald Mills, who will remain chairman.

Prior to her stint at Saks, Williams had been executive vp of merchandising at The Limited (Columbus, Ohio); president of 5-7-9 junior apparel shops, a division of now-defunct Edison Brothers Stores; and an executive at Sanger Harris in Dallas. She began her retailing career in the executive training program of Macy's New York.

Mills, chairman, president and ceo of Jacobson's since 1996, had previously been chairman and ceo of Dayton's (Minneapolis) and of Hudson's (Detroit) and then executive vp of the Dayton-Hudson Corp. (now Target Corp., Minneapolis).

Jacobson Stores operates 24 specialty stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas and Florida.