Herbert Mines Associates Taps CFO for Macy’s
June 6, 2018 – New York-based executive recruiter Herbert Mines Associates recently placed Paula A. Price as CFO for retail giant Macy’s. She will succeed Karen Hoguet who plans to retire at the end of the 2018 fiscal year. Ms. Hoguet will remain with the company in an advisory role during a transition period until February.
“I’m excited to have Paula join Macy’s Inc. at such an important time for our business,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and CEO of the Cincinnati-based company. “She is an accomplished financial executive with an impressive breadth and depth of retail experience and will be a great addition to the team. Having led finance in a variety of complex and dynamic retail organizations, Paula’s insights and experience will serve Macy’s Inc. well.”
Mr. Gennette described Ms. Hoguet as one of the great leaders in retail. “I want to again thank her for her outstanding contributions to the company over the past three decades, for her partnership with me over the past year, and for her support through this transition,” he said.
Ms. Price has 30 years of finance experience, mostly from retail and consumer-facing businesses. Most recently, she served as CFO of Ahold USA, where she led a team of over 1,000 across finance, accounting, strategy and planning, real estate and information technology. She was also responsible for the successful development and execution of a $1 billion program to fund Ahold USA’s strategic growth initiatives, which included sales efforts, customer loyalty and e-commerce initiatives. Before that, she served as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer of CVS Caremark Corp., where she was a major contributor to the execution of the CVS/Caremark merger. Earlier in her career, Ms. Price held finance and strategy positions at a variety of retail, consumer products and financial services companies. She is currently a full-time senior lecturer in the accounting and management unit at Harvard Business School, a role she has held since 2014.
In her new position, Ms. Price will be responsible for leading the company’s finance, accounting, investor relations and internal audit functions.
As CFOs Gain in Stature, Succession Plans to Replace Them Falter
As with all things in the business world, the role of a CFO has evolved over the past 10 years. Gone are the days of the CFO being the top accountant focused on the timely and accurate recording of transactions to generate a set of financial …
With fiscal 2017 sales of $24.8 billion and approximately 130,000 employees, Macy’s operates approximately 690 department stores under the nameplates Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, and more than 160 specialty stores that include Bloomingdale’s the Outlet, Bluemercury, Macy’s Backstage and STORY.
Retail Specialists
Herbert Mines is a specialist search boutique focusing on the retail, luxury, consumer products, hospitality & food service, fashion/ apparel and e-commerce industries. The firm is noted for its C-level recruiting work, placing presidents, chief operating officers and CEOs at a number of branded retailers, including Fred’s, Neiman Marcus, Payless ShoeSource, Ulta Beauty, Mama Rosa’s Pizza, Oregon Ice Cream Co., Fender, Black Diamond and Bare Snacks, among dozens of others.
Recently, Herbert Mines recruited Hal Lawton as the president of Macy’s. In that role, he is responsible for all aspects of the Macy’s brand, including merchandising, marketing, stores, operations, technology, and consumer insights and analytics. Mr. Lawton has strong technology and digital expertise and was most recently senior vice president for eBay North America.
Modern Day CFO
A new report by Stanton Chase International found that the role of the CFO continues to evolve at an escalating pace. As the job expands to include ever more non-traditional financial accountabilities, CFOs recognize they must build new skills to lead.
Transitioning CFOs Seen Fast Tracking to CEO
La Quinta’s naming of Keith Cline as company president and chief executive officer is the latest in a running catalog of completed CEO searches that have resulted in the winning candidate coming from the CFO slot. Korn Ferry took on the search last fall after Wayne Goldberg stepped down from the post last September.
“With technology increasingly shaping and disrupting corporate strategy and the way organizations operate, CFOs must remain poised for more change ahead, and be prepared to quickly and continuously innovate to keep pace with digital transformation,” Stanton Chase said.
The report found that technology, and the unique opportunities it offers, presents new challenges and demands for CFOs. Among them, CFOs must take on a greater role in attracting, developing and retaining top tech-savvy leadership talent that can leverage new technologies within their organizations, allowing them to focus on developing and driving corporate strategy to remain competitive.
The tide has clearly turned, and the CFO’s focus has irrevocably shifted from “traditional” finance responsibilities to finding ways that finance can add measurable business value. “Technology is both a driver and an enabler of this shift,” the report said.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
