Michael Kors owner Capri's finance head jumps ship to Macy's

By Ananya Mariam Rajesh

(Reuters) -Capri Holdings' finance and operations head, Thomas Edwards, will leave the U.S. luxury holding company to assume similar roles at department store chain Macy's.

At Macy's, Edwards, who will join in June, will help strengthen CEO Tony Spring's years-long turnaround efforts, which have focused on cost cutting and boosting luxury sales.

The change comes as Capri looks to rebuild its business following the demise of its $8.5 billion deal with Tapestry and reports of Italian luxury group Prada moving closer to a deal for its Versace brand.

Shares of Macy's, which reiterated its first-quarter sales and profit forecasts, rose nearly 3% in early trading. Capri's shares fell 1%.

In March, Capri said Donatella Versace would step down as the main designer for Versace after almost three decades, further fueling talks of a sale of the iconic brand.

Macy's has struggled as customers paused purchases of non-essential items such as apparel and footwear due to sticky inflation.

CEO Spring has laid out plans to close 150 namesake stores through 2026, reinvest in high-potential locations and rely on its luxury outlets Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury to lift sales.

"Macy's is definitely making a bigger push in luxury in general ... maybe that was a reason why they were interested in hiring a CFO from a company in a luxury space," said Morningstar analyst David Swartz.

Edwards, who will remain with Capri until June 20, will replace Adrian Mitchell. Mitchell, 51, appointed finance head in 2020, took on the operations head role in March 2023 when Spring was named the CEO.

Capri unit Michael Kors' Rajal Mehta will become the interim CFO of the parent firm, the company said.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Sriraj Kalluvila)