Bath & Body Works (Columbus, OH) announced that Andrew Meslow will step down from his position as CEO and as a member of the board of directors due to health reasons, effective May 12.
Sarah Nash, the chair of the board, will assume the CEO role on an interim basis. The retailer said it will hire a national search firm to help identify a permanent chief executive.
Nash is also the CEO of privately held Novagard Solutions (Cleveland). She spent nearly 30 years in investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., retiring as Vice Chairman for Global Investment Banking in July of 2005.
The transition comes one year after Bath & Body Works became an independent public company. The retailer was part of L Brands, which operated Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works as sister companies. In July of last year, L Brands changed its name to Bath & Body Works and spun off Victoria’s Secret into a standalone concern. Meslow joined L Brands as its CFO in 2005.