Michaels Stores, Inc. announced Friday (July 20th) that CEO John Menzer has resigned to focus on his medical rehabilitation.

Menzer had been on medical leave from Michaels since he suffered a stroke in mid-April. The company has been being run since then by an Office of the CEO comprised of Lew Klessel, Interim Chief Operating Officer for the Company and Managing Director of Bain Capital, and Chuck Sonsteby, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

The company has announced that it will conduct a search for a replacement for Menzer, and the Office of the CEO will continue to run the company in the interim until a replacement is found. [Read more...]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting, via its Deal Journal blog, that sources familiar with the company’s plans say the planned IPO of Michaels Stores Inc has been put on hold indefinitely following the stroke in April of CEO John Menzer.

Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group, the private equity companies that own Michaels Stores, filed in March with the SEC declaring their intent to take the company public through a $500 million IPO offering. Lew Klessel, who is Managing Director with Bain Capital Partners, LLC, and Charles “Chuck” Sonsteby, who is Michaels Stores’ Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer, have been running Michaels Stores since Menzer’s stroke. The company announced Menzer’s illness on April 20th.  [Read more...]

Michaels Stores announced today that they are forming an interim Office of the Chief Executive to manage the company in the ongoing absence of CEO John Menzer.

The company had previously announced on April 20th that the 60 year old Menzer was hospitalized in stable condition, but they declined at that time to indicate the cause of his illness. Today’s announcement, the first update on his health situation from the company since that day, indicates that Menzer suffered a stroke last month and is in stable condition but is expected to be absent from the company for an extended period of time. The announcement says that the Board of Directors will reevaluate Menzer’s status periodically. Menzer has been CEO of Michaels Stores, Inc. since 2009.

Menzer has been in the news recently for the role he held previous to his tenure at Michaels, as Vice-Chairman of Wal-Mart. That company is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for the alleged payment of bribes by its Mexican subsidiary during a period of rapid growth in that country. The New York Times named Menzer as one of the key players in the U.S. company’s cover-up of those alleged actions.

The new Office of the CEO at Michaels Stores, Inc. will consist of Lew Klessel, who is Managing Director with Bain Capital Partners, LLC, and Charles “Chuck” Sonsteby, who is Michaels Stores’ Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Klessel has also been appointed to the newly-created position of Interim Chief Operating Officer at Michaels. Klessel and Sonsteby, as the Office of the CEO, will temporarily assume Menzer’s responsibilities as CEO, and will report directly to the Board of Directors. [Read more...]