Hecht to Step Down at Carter Hawley Hale : Retailing: President’s departure from the newly reorganized department store chain hints at the likelihood of new management from outside.

H. Michael Hecht, president of Carter Hawley Hale Stores, said Tuesday that he will resign his post in what is the strongest evidence yet that the newly reorganized department store chain will seek an outsider to replace retiring Chief Executive Philip Hawley.

Hecht, an 18-year veteran of the Los Angeles-based parent of the Broadway, said he will resign the presidency and relinquish his seat on the company’s board on Friday.

Hecht, 53, has been responsible for store operations, sales promotions and marketing for Carter Hawley. He said he is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.

“I’ve been with Carter Hawley Hale for 18 years, and that stand on Broadway is long enough,” Hecht, said. “I’m looking for something new and different. . . . I am optimistic about the future for Carter Hawley Hale and personally looking forward to new challenges.”

Hawley, who is also company chairman, is resigning in January. Hawley announced his pending departure last month, just a day after Carter Hawley emerged from bankruptcy court protection.

Hawley has said he will retain his board seat and will serve on a search committee for his successor. The company said Tuesday that the same search committee will also select a replacement for Hecht.

Some industry analysts expected Hecht’s resignation. They said that Carter Hawley is planning to put together a new management team and that Hecht was not a serious candidate for the position of chief executive.

“This is further evidence that Carter Hawley will go outside the organization to find a new chief executive,” said Walter Loeb, a retail analyst at Loeb Associates in New York. “We’ll be seeing a new management philosophy at Carter Hawley.”

Loeb said he believes that Sam Zell, head of the Zell/Chilmark Fund, a Chicago-based investment partnership that acquired a majority interest in Carter Hawley in the bankruptcy court reorganization, will be Hawley’s successor as chairman. Loeb said the company is likely to select an executive with a strong merchandising background to serve as chief executive and complement Zell.

Carter Hawley, which filed for bankruptcy protection in February, 1991, operates 87 stores under the names Broadway, Broadway Southwest, Emporium and Weinstocks.

Before filing for bankruptcy, Carter Hawley was burdened by heavy debt, dependent on an aging customer base and weakened by a recession-driven downturn in consumer spending--all at a time when the expensive remake of aging stores became ever more pressing.

The company’s reorganization plan, designed to attract younger shoppers, calls for remodeling its stores and revamping its merchandise.

Hecht has been involved in Carter Hawley’s reorganization, which has also resulted in some middle management consolidation and increased staffing of the company’s stores. Hecht said Carter Hawley is now more responsive to customers on the store level.

Hecht was named president of the company in 1991 after serving as vice president since 1990. From 1986 to 1991, Hecht was chairman and chief executive officer of the Broadway.