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Fortune
Fortune
Alan Murray, David Meyer

Why retail giants are experiencing chaos at the top

Retail Phil Wahba Fortune Gap
Julie Wainwright, founder and then chief executive officer of The RealReal Inc., during a Bloomberg Technology television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. (Credit: David Paul Morris—Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Good morning.

Here’s an interesting fact for the day: There are eight Fortune 500 companies that currently don’t have a permanent CEO, and half of them are retail companies.

Is that a coincidence? Fortune’s Phil Wahba doesn’t think so. Retailers of all sizes are clearly struggling to get it right these days. Gap CEO Sonia Syngal abruptly ended her two-year tenure last summer after chronic sales declines. (Her predecessor, Art Peck, was also ousted abruptly in 2019.) The RealReal’s founder Julie Wainwright stepped down in June, following a drop in profitability, and was only replaced eight months later. Steve Rendle of VF Corporation left unexpectedly in December, under investor pressure. Stitch Fix brought back founder Katrina Lake to rescue the company—shades of Starbucks? Rite Aid has an interim CEO after Heyward Donigan’s exit last month. You get the point. 

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