Pence returns as Coldwater Creek CEO

SANDPOINT — After leading the company for two tumultuous years, Coldwater Creek announced early Monday that Dan Griesemer was resigning his post as chief executive officer, with company co-founder Dennis Pence taking over the position.

Griesemer was named CEO in 2007, and his time atop the company has been marred by layoffs and a steep drop in stock prices, which plummeted from a November 2006 high of $30.95 per share to a low of just $0.91 per share two years later.

Like many of its competitors in the specialty retail industry, Coldwater Creek has struggled mightily through the recession, spending much of 2007 and 2008 engaged in what Griesemer called “rightsizing.” Among other strategic moves, the rightsizing meant layoffs and cuts to employee benefits. The largest of the cuts came in early 2008, when 65 employees representing a cross-section of levels and functions were laid off. Of those 65, 51 of the layoffs came from the Sandpoint facility, representing what was then 9 percent of the company’s total area workforce.

Pence, who co-founded Coldwater Creek in 1984, served as the company’s CEO from 1984 to 2000, and again from 2002 to 2007.

In a Monday press release, Pence said his return to the job comes at the urging of the company’s board of directors.

“It is my firm belief that this brand, now 25 years of age, has significant opportunities for substantial growth,” he said. “The board of directors has asked me to return as our leader in order to accelerate the timelines for this growth, and for a return to long-term profitability, which our shareholders so rightfully expect. I look forward to moving expeditiously and will provide further detail as to our plans for future growth in the months to come.”

Reached Monday afternoon, company officials declined to comment further on the move.