Indigo’s future at stake amid executive exits, economic fears: analysts

globalnews.ca:

A wave of top executive departures marks the latest worrying chapter in the story of Indigo Books & Music Inc., which analysts say faces a cooling economy — and a bit of an identity crisis — heading into the fall.

Indigo announced the sudden departure of CEO Peter Ruis last week after just a year in the role. That was a day after Andrea Limbardi, the company’s president and a two-decade veteran of the firm, announced on LinkedIn that she was leaving to head up Reitmans Canada.

Both executive exits come shortly after the retirement of Indigo founder and chairperson Heather Reisman from the company in August and the departure of four board members in June. When the board moves were announced, Indigo said in a statement that director Chika Stacy Oriuwa’s departure was due to a “loss of confidence in board leadership” and “mistreatment.”

Retail analyst Bruce Winder tells Global News that while it’s not clear what conversations are happening behind the scenes at Indigo, the flurry of departures with a lack of explanation “sends signals that the company is sort of in a bit of a chaotic state right now.”

“They probably are in a little bit of a panic,” he says.

The leadership shuffles followed a difficult few months for the Canadian retailer, which saw its sales take a significant hit following a ransomware attack in the spring that took its digital and in-store shopping offline for weeks.

Indigo said in regulatory filings in August that the attack affected not just the company’s immediate online sales, but its ability to replenish inventory in the aftermath. That translated to lower revenues and a deeper net loss for the company’s first fiscal quarter ending July 1.

Indigo’s stock price has also plummeted in the past five