Sokol Replaces Hofer as May Co. California Chief
Kenneth F. Sokol has been named president and chief executive of May Co. California, replacing Judith K. Hofer, who has been the chain’s highly visible leader since 1983, the store’s parent company announced Friday.
The move comes at a time when May Co. is locked in a struggle for market share in highly competitive Southern California. The chain has shown disappointing sales growth for the last year and has been losing market share to other department, discount and specialty stores.
May Department Stores said Hofer, 45, has been named president and chief executive of Famous-Barr, a department store chain in the parent company’s home base of St. Louis.
The transfer appears to represent a step down for Hofer. The 35-store May Co. is the corporation’s largest store division and accounted for about 25% of the parent’s $3.2 billion in department store sales in 1984. Famous-Barr, with 17 stores, is the company’s third-largest division and contributed about 14% of department store revenue.
Sokol, 56, has been serving as president and chief executive of M. O’Neil Co., May Co.’s Akron, Ohio, department store division, since 1983. He also worked for May Co. California from 1960 to 1980, when he left for another May Co. unit.
Hofer and other company executives could not be reached for comment.
Retailing industry observers have speculated for months that changes were in the offing. In addition to competing head-to-head with the Broadway, a Carter Hawley Hale division, May has been squeezed by two Dayton Hudson units, Target and Mervyn’s.
Figures compiled by Security Pacific Corp. show that, from February through October, 1985, May’s sales performance was by far the worst among the four major Southern California department store companies. The chain showed sales growth of just 1.2%, compared to 7.4% for the Broadway, 10.4% for Robinson’s and 10.9% for Bullock’s.
During the last five years, May’s market share has also dropped sharply, to 26% from 30.8%.
Sarah A. Stack, an analyst with the Los Angeles brokerage of Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards, nonetheless expressed surprise, noting that Hofer has been highly visible.
In writing about her appointment as president of May Co. in January, 1983, the New York Times said Hofer would perhaps be responsible for more retail sales than any other woman executive.
About the change, Stack said: “It’s probably performance-related or a personal conflict. A lot of people are going to fall victim to the department store environment.
Need a Strategy
“You’ve gotta have a strategy,” she added. “May Co. hasn’t demonstrated a visibly different strategy from Broadway or any other company.
