Abercrombie & Fitch (New Albany, Ohio) has named Robert Singer president and coo. Earlier in the day, the specialty retailer announced the retirement of executive vp and coo Seth Johnson, effective June 18, 2004.
Singer will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company as well as for implementing the strategies and systems to support the continued growth of the company’s retail formats. He had previously been executive vp for Gucci Group N.V. (Amsterdam) after joining that fashion brand as cfo in 1995 at the time of its initial public offering. Prior to joining Gucci, he was an audit partner and member of the Management Committee in Italy of Coopers & Lybrand (the predecessor company to PriceWaterhouseCoopers), a firm for which he also worked in New York during a 19-year career, the bulk of which has been spent living in Italy.
“Bob has world-class financial and operational credentials,” said Mike Jeffries, chairman and ceo of Abercrombie & Fitch. “I am thrilled to welcome him to the Abercrombie & Fitch leadership team.”
Johnson joined Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 as vp, cfo. He helped the company’s initial public offering, which was completed in September of 1996, and the company’s spin-off from Limited Brands in May 1998. He was promoted to executive vp/coo in 2000.