News comes as retailer beats expectations
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Aritzia Inc. founder Brian Hill will step down as chief executive this month after 38 years at the helm of the clothing chain.
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The Vancouver-based company said president and chief operating officer Jennifer Wong, who started at Aritzia as a part-time sales associate 35 years ago, will become chief executive officer on May 21, 2022. Hill will stay on as executive chair of the board.
Hill, who started the business with his family in 1984, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview Friday morning that the time was right for the transition because “business is fantastic.”
Aritzia beat expectations Friday with net income of $34.2 million, up 113 per cent from $16.1 million a year earlier.
The retailer also beat on revenue, reporting $444.32 million, up from $267.53 million last year.
Hill said his team had expected on the high end to get to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic sales levels, but are now “well over 100 per cent.”
