King of Diamonds to Clear the Deck

Jewelry retailer Zale Corp. (Irving, Texas) has announced that chairman and ceo Robert J. DiNicola will retire on July 31, 2002, at the end of the company's current fiscal year.

No successor has been identified, and DiNicola said he made the announcement early to ease the transition. “There is a plan to all of this,” he said. “We are exploring all possibilities and will look at external and internal candidates. By starting in March, we'll have several months to complete a search. That's better than word leaking out.”

Early reports identify three top candidates from inside the company: president and coo Alan Shor, executive vp and chief merchandise officer Mary Forte and executive vp and cfo Sue Gove.

This is the second time in two years that DiNicola has abruptly left the job. He came aboard in 1994, a year after Zale's emerged from bankruptcy protection. In 1999, he relinquished his ceo responsibilities and retired as chairman in 2000. He was succeeded by Beryl Raff, then was asked to return when Raff resigned in February 2001 to become senior vp and gmm of fine jewelry at J.C. Penney Co. (Plano, Texas).

During both stints, DiNicola was given credit for boosting the fortunes of the 2300-store operation. Though same-store sales and profits declined in 2001, for the first time since the company came out of bankruptcy, earnings rose. “In a short span of time, and under extremely difficult circumstances, he and the team were able to stabilize the business and position the company for future growth,” said Zale's board member Richard Marcus.

According to the terms of his resignation, DiNicola, 55, will remain a Zale consultant.

The company operates the higher-end Bailey Banks & Biddle Fine Jewelers, the more-contemporary Gordon's Jewelers, the moderately priced Zales Jewelers, the Piercing Pagoda jewelry kiosks, more than 80 jewelry outlet stores and about 170 Peoples Jewellers in Canada.