Indigo CEO exits in latest shakeup in retailer’s upper ranks

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Amid a tumultuous time for the retailer, Indigo Books & Music Inc. IDG-T is facing another leadership shakeup with the resignation of two top executives, chief executive officer Peter Ruis and president Andrea Limbardi.

Indigo announced Mr. Ruis’s departure on Thursday, saying it is searching for a new CEO. On Wednesday, Ms. Limbardi said on LinkedIn that she had left after 21 years at the company, to take on the role of CEO at Montreal-based retailer Reitmans Canada Ltd. Reitmans announced Ms. Limbardi’s hiring in early June, and she took over the role on Sept. 5.

“The board will act swiftly to find the right leader to move the company forward following Peter’s resignation,” said a statement provided by Indigo spokesperson Melissa Perri on Thursday.

Mr. Ruis’s departure now leaves Indigo without a CEO or a president for the time being, as it prepares for the crucial holiday season. Chief financial officer Craig Loudon and senior vice-president and general counsel Damien Liddle will “provide day-to-day direction” in the near term, according to the company release. Mr. Ruis has agreed to work with the Toronto-based retailer for two months as a consultant, to support a leadership transition, according to the release.

There has been significant turnover in Indigo’s upper ranks in recent months. In June, nearly half of the company’s board of directors departed at once, and the company acknowledged in a press release at the time that one of the directors had left because she had lost confidence in the board’s leadership and because of “mistreatment.” The same day that the board departures were announced, Indigo also said founder Heather Reisman would retire on Aug. 22.

Mr. Ruis spent just one year as CEO. He joined Indigo as president in February of 2021, and was promoted to CEO last September, when Ms. Reisman announced she would step back and take on the role of executive chair of Indigo’s board.

Ms. Perri did not respond to questions on Thursday about the reason for Mr. Ruis’s resignation, or whether it was related to the recent board departures. Mr. Ruis and Ms. Limbardi could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Ruis’s tenure was marked by upheaval, as Indigo faced a debilitating cyberattack and had to cope with major shifts in consumer sentiment.

Ms. Reisman opened the first big-box Indigo bookstore in Burlington, Ont., on Sept. 4, 1997. In 2001, Indigo became the largest book retailer in the country when the company merged with Chapters.

Over time, like other book retailers, Indigo faced incredible competitive pressure from the emergence of Amazon. Ms. Reisman worked to keep attracting customers partly by offering more types of lifestyle-focused merchandise, expanding into housewares, toys, stationery and fashion accessories.

When Mr. Ruis took on the job, he said his goal was to take that strategy further, planning what he called a “big product revolution.” He planned on expanding Indigo’s offerings in cookware, tech gadgets and beauty products with hundreds of new items, and also to redesign the stores to highlight those products. He also planned major investments in the retailer’s digital infrastructure, including an overhaul of its e-commerce website.

But he found himself coping with a crisis just a few months into the job. A ransomware attack in February knocked Indigo’s e-commerce operations offline, compromised sensitive employee data and led to millions of dollars in losses.

Indigo also was forced to cope with inflation-pinched consumers cutting back on the kinds of discretionary purchases that are the stores’ bread and butter. And the new website overhaul was delayed by months, only recently relaunching.

Indigo has been losing money for years, making only a narrow $3.3-million net profit in the fiscal year ending in April, 2022, before swinging back to a nearly $50-million loss in its most recent fiscal year. Last month, Indigo reported a net loss of $28.5-million in its first quarter, citing the lingering effects of the cyberattack as well as dampened consumer spending.

Canadian retailers have noted that inflation and multiple interest-rate hikes have put pressure on shoppers, who have been putting off non-essential purchases and becoming more price-sensitive. During a call to discuss the results in August, Mr. Ruis said the company was focused on cutting costs with the goal of “generating profitable growth.”

Indigo also recently secured a credit line from its controlling shareholder, Gerry Schwartz. The company has access to a $45-million credit facility from Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc., which is controlled by Mr. Schwartz, to finance Indigo’s “seasonal working capital and operational needs,” according to a company statement. That amount could be increased by as much as $10-million.

Mr. Ruis’s long-term strategy for Indigo had included possible international expansion into the U.S. and possibly Europe, he told The Globe and Mail in an interview last year, though he noted that macroeconomic conditions would need to settle down before such a move was possible. The company currently has 171 stores.

“We hope to double this business over the next five to 10 years and make it truly international,” he said at the time.

Editor’s note: A clarification has been added to this story to specify that Ms. Limbardi’s appointment at Reitmans was announced in June.