Reports: Chico’s CEO out as new owners take over

According to published reports, Chico’s FAS president and CEO Molly Langenstein is out — just days after the company’s sale to a New York private equity firm closed and right before the Fort Myers chain reopens its original store.

Langenstien’s departure was reported by the industry publication RetailDive and by the Fort Myers News Press. Neither Sycamore Partners, the new owner, nor Langenstein responded to requests from the Business Observer for comment or confirmation.

Chico’s shareholders approved the all-cash sale of the company to New York-based Sycamore Jan. 5. The transaction, Chico’s said in a statement, was valued at about $1 billion.

After closing the deal, the company went private, and its shares are no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chico’s FAS, which had seen a tumultuous four years of rotating CEOs and turnaround plans, first announced the sale to Sycamore in September. The private equity firm specializing in retail, consumer and distribution-related investments agreed to buy Chico’s for $7.60 per share.

On the day the sale closed, Sycamore, which held a stake in Chico’s FAS for several years and tried twice before to buy it, announced it would move the company’s brands — Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma — to its KnitWell Group.

In addition to the Chico’s FAS brands, KnitWell's roster includes other well-known women’s fashion retailers Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, Loft and Talbots. With the three new retailers in place, KnitWell expects to generate about $6 billion in annual sales.

Lizanne Kindler is executive chair and CEO of KnitWell. 

Langenstein joined the Fort Myers company in 2019 as president of Chico’s and White House Black Market before being elevated to CEO of Chico’s FAS in April 2020. She came to the company after 30 years at Macy’s, where, according to her LinkedIn page, she was a general business manager leading the ready-to-wear division until October 2018.

The sale of Chico’s FAS and the reported replacement of its CEO comes just as Chico’s is about to reopen its original store on Sanibel Island, at 2075 Periwinkle Place, on Thursday.

The billion-dollar chain got its start in 1983 when Marvin and Helene Gralnick signed a lease at the Periwinkle Place shopping center and opened a boutique named Chico’s Folk Art Specialties. It was named after a friend’s parrot, Chico.

As of Oct. 28, 2023, Chico’s FAS operated 1,256 stores in the U.S. and sold its products through 58 international franchise locations in Mexico, two domestic franchise locations in airports and online.

According to its third quarter — and final — earnings report released in Nov. 30, its net sales were $505.1 million, down 2.5% from the $518.3 million in sales over the same time period the previous year.

There is no immediate word of what, if any, changes or job cuts are coming to the corporate headquarters in Fort Myers.