Business

Crocs taps new CEO, closes stores in wake of brutal quarter

Crocs Inc. is giving its CEO the boot.

The Colorado-based company — whose brightly-hued, plastic clogs are worn by the likes of celebrity chef Mario Batali — is bumping its chief executive upstairs and closing 160 stores over the next two years.

With sales in a tailspin, CEO Gregg Ribatt will step down in June, handing the reins to Crocs’ president, Andrew Rees.

Ribatt, who was brought in by Blackstone Group in 2013, will remain on the board of directors. Blackstone owns about 14 percent of the company.

“Looking ahead, I am confident that these actions will pave the way for renewed growth and improved shareholder value,” Ribatt said in a statement on Wednesday.

Crocs will have 400 stores after the closures.

The C-suite shuffle comes on the heels of a rough quarterly report. Revenue declined 10.5 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 to $208.7 million, while the company lost $44.5 million in the quarter.

“They are very practical shoes, popular in the restaurant industry and medical workplace,” said CL King & Associates analyst, Steven Marotta, “but they are not a fashion statement anymore.”

Crocs management said they expect revenue to be flat this year.

Shares closed at $6.90, up 3.8 percent.

The 15-year-old company said it has sold more than 350 million pars of shoes in more than 90 countries.