Macy’s hires new CIO from within

Dive Brief:

• Macy’s Inc. will promote Keith Credendino to chief information officer, effective Aug. 4. He will replace Laura Miller, who is retiring the day before.

• He is currently SVP of technology product development, customer experience. In his new role, he will report to COO and CFO Adrian Mitchell. Credendino will remain based at Macy’s tech hub in the Atlanta area.

• Credendino arrived at Macy’s more than two years ago from Inspire Brands, a restaurant conglomerate that runs the likes of Sonic, Dunkin’ and Buffalo Wild Wings. He previously also held tech roles at The Home Depot, InterContinental Hotels Group and Cox Enterprises.

Dive Insight:

Macy’s Inc. credits Credendino for the launch of its marketplace and the tech needs of the redesigns of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s websites. Among his most recent projects is modernizing the company’s checkout system, per a company press release.

In a statement, Mitchell said “There is still much work to be done.”

“As our new CIO, Keith will continue to simplify and modernize our technology stack as part of our company’s growth strategy, ‘A Bold New Chapter,’” he also said.

The smooth leadership transition comes at an otherwise turbulent time for the department store company. With a $6.6 billion takeover bid on the table — possibly higher now, per recent unconfirmed reports — Macy’s in recent months has shaken up its board, skirting a proxy fight, and announced the closure of 150 locations over the next three years.

Former Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring took over from Jeff Gennette as chief executive only in February.

In May, the company broke out some financial metrics pertaining to the core fleet that will remain after that downsizing is complete. Comps at what the company is calling the “go-forward business,” including e-commerce, were flat; comps at go-forward stores rose 0.1%. That compares to a 0.4% comp decline at the Macy’s banner overall.