The Children’s Place appoints interim CEO, strategy outlined by majority shareholder

Weeks after new majority shareholder Mithaq Capital stepped in to inject 78.6 million dollars into the business, The Children’s Place (TCP) is now preparing for a leadership transition ahead of the implementation of a new strategy outlined by the investor’s chairman, Turki AlRajhi.

The childrenswear retailer revealed that its current president and chief executive officer, Jane Elfers, had stepped down from the role and was succeeded by Muhammad Umair, who took on the dual position of president and interim CEO.

After thanking Elfers for her dedication, the company said Umair would be continuing the board’s mission of building its “position as a global best-in-class retailer”, while the search for a permanent CEO goes forward.

Umair joins TCP from trade finance fund Origin Funding Partners, where he served as senior advisor, a role he took up after holding positions at various organisations, including head of advisory at Armacom.

His appointment came ahead of a new letter to shareholders issued by AlRajhi, who also serves as chairman of TCP’s board.

‘We have no master plan…’

After outlining a brief history of Mithaq and analysing TCP’s financial performance since its inception, AlRajhi went on to detail the company’s strategy going forward, a segment in the letter that he began with: “We have no master plan.”

He went on to note that deducing such a plan “often fails in practice”, and as such he explained some “preliminary observations on the strategy that we expect management to execute”.

These include capital allocation that prioritises business growth and reducing debt over time, ensuring that “decent liquidity” remains on the balance sheet, the examination of obtainable operational efficiencies to build a strong foundation, constructing a lean management style and the implementation of a performance-based incentive system.

A notable change on the consumer front is the possible increase to minimum order thresholds to qualify for free shipping, while remaining competitive in terms of pricing.

AlRajhi concluded: “The implementation of all of the above is not easy, but we intend to achieve it ‘v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y’ so as to best ensure proper implementation and success.

“In making decisions, our fundamental focus will be on long-term results rather than being swayed by short-term profitability considerations or reacting to – Wall Street – immediate responses. Delayed gratification is a component of compounding wealth, so shareholders’ patience would be the most logical course…”