Guess Plans for 2013

Paul Marciano, ceo of Guess Inc. (Los Angeles) said he had hired two new executives and is searching for a third.

He didn’t name the new hires during a conference call to discuss his company’s fourth quarter results, but he said one will head design and another will oversee merchandise for Guess’ North American retail operations.

And the search has been resumed to replace Michael Prince as chief operating officer. When Prince resigned in November 2012, along with cfo Dennis Secor, it was announced that he would likely not be replaced.

More recently, Nancy Schactman resigned last week as president of North American operations.

Marciano declined to name the new executive hires but said they’d be identified “within weeks” and would be on the job within two months.

For the three months ended Feb. 2, 2013, Guess’ net income fell 24.3 percent though revenues gained 5.1 percent and North American retail sales increased 1.9 percent. Same-store sales were down 6.3 percent.

“I’ve been very disappointed with the performance in North American retail over the past year,” Marciano told the analysts. “We have taken a hard look at this business and we’re in the process of making some strategic management changes.” That will include reviewing underperforming stores as leases come up for renewal.

He also said Guess had been too heavily focused on jeans above $100 in recent seasons and would lower price points, “increasing the denim offering at $75 to $95” and clearly communicate its dedication to more moderate prices in its stores and mailings to loyal customers.

“We realize that we have excluded the youngest version of the Guess girl, who is more price-conscious than ever,” he said.