Resignation was imminent
Jeffries’s immediate departure is not a huge surprise as a growing group of shareholders felt he had lost touch with his target audience for quite some time now. He has helped expand the brand in the nineties, but nowadays, the company has to deal with lower turnover and profit numbers.
He barely survived a confidence vote at the beginning of the year and he was then forced to take a step back: he could still stay on as CEO, but had to step down as the chairman of the board. It seems that was a mere delay of the inevitable.
Share price shoots up
Investors have applauded Jeffries’s departure as the share price shot up nearly 10 % immediately after the news broke. The share had dropped 20 % since the beginning of the year, so it is so far only a slight recovery.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has already hired a headhunter to look for a successor and for the time being, current chairman Arthur Martinez will assume the position of CEO.
