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After CEO Leaves, Tiffany & Co. Needs a Comeback for the Ages

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Shares of luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. slumped all day Monday, and closed the day down 2.45% to $78.49 per share after announcing that its CEO, Frederic Cumenal, was leaving the company, effective immediately.

Tiffany said Chairman and former CEO Michael Kowalski will serve as interim CEO, and that the company’s board of directors will begin the search for a successor with an executive search firm.

"I am proud of what we have accomplished at Tiffany and would like to thank the management team and our many talented employees around the world with whom I have had the pleasure to work,” said Cumenal. “I have great confidence in Tiffany's brand, strategic direction and people, and I believe the company will have many exciting opportunities in the future."

Cumenal had been with Tiffany since 2011, moving quickly up the ranks at the jeweler and played a pivotal role in hiring design director Francesca Amfitheatrof, who was responsible for Tiffany’s modern, popular “T” Collection. He was at French luxury conglomerate LVMH for 15 years before that, holding many roles in the company’s wine and spirits division

Slowing Sales

Despite its icon status, Tiffany has been hard-pressed in recent years to remain an industry leader. You can place the blame on many things—changing markets in the U.S. and China, the strengthening of the dollar, the tightening of Chinese anti-corruption laws, and the overall slowdown of the “hard-luxury” market, i.e. diamonds—and each have contributed to slowing sales.

The company’s recent holiday quarter was particularly rough. For November and December combined, worldwide net revenues were $966 million, coming in above the $961 million reported a year ago. Worldwide comparable sales, however, declined 2%.

In particular, sales at Tiffany’s Flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York declined a whopping 14% year-over-year. The store sits right next to Trump Tower, and has been blocked in some way or form, with large numbers of protesters gathered outside, since the election of President Trump.

A Carat-Sized Comeback

A CEO departure never has the best timing for a company, and Cumenal’s abrupt leave casts a long shadow on not just its Super Bowl ad, featuring none other than Lady Gaga, but also one of its key holiday sales periods, Valentine’s Day. The ad introduces a new jewelry line that looks to be more edgy than Tiffany’s typically classic pieces of jewelry.

What Tiffany needs to do is to take a leap of faith like its new ad star did, whose new album Joanne and acclaimed Super Bowl Halftime performance helped jumpstart a stagnating music career. Maybe that means embracing new types of customers like the LBGTQ community and single women, who are, more and more, buying luxury jewelry for themselves. There’s also huge demand for men’s jewelry, watches, and accessories, and while Tiffany does have a large selection of men’s items, the company could certainly offer more luxurious every day options.

Tiffany would also see no harm in boosting its e-commerce presence, since online sales as a percentage of overall revenue haven’t grown in three years, notes Bloomberg. Maybe this means partnering with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) with special deals on delivery during key holiday seasons like Thanksgiving-New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.

If Tiffany continues to post little growth going forward, investors shouldn’t be surprised if more management turnover at the company comes as a result. But if they committ to some change, Tiffany has a chance at being a jewelry leader once again.

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