Francesca’s CFO to depart

July 03, 2019

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. on Monday announced that Chief Financial Officer Kelly Dilts plans to resign effective July 19 “to pursue another opportunity,” according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The retailer also said it has named Chief Accounting Officer Cindy Thomassee to replace her. Thomassee joined the company in 2007, arriving from LRG Furniture, a retail subsidiary of Bassett Furniture Industries, where she worked for more than eight years. She’s had previous stints as Francesca’s interim CFO, from May 2012 to March 2013 and again from December 2015 to April 2016, according to the filing.

The company is likely telegraphing a message of continuity with the appointment of a longtime employee​, according to Patrick Collins, a partner at Farrell Fritz with expertise in bankruptcy, restructuring and distressed retail. The company hasn’t had a permanent CEO since the February departure of Steve Lawrence; Michael Prendergast has been serving in that role in the interim.

“Because of the position that they’re in, they may want to assure people that, by promoting someone from within and naming a new CFO on a permanent basis and not in an interim basis, it shows stability,” he told Retail Dive in an interview. “That in their minds would calm concerns.”

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