The Harvey Kanter era at Destination XL Group Inc. is coming to an end.
On Thursday after the market closed, the Canton, Mass.-based men’s big and tall retailer said Lionel Conacher, chairman of the company’s board of directors, will become interim chief executive officer on Aug. 12. He will continue to serve as board chairman.
Kanter had previously announced his plan to retire and he will relinquish his position and step down from the board on Aug. 11.
“I am honored to take on the role of interim CEO at an important time for DXL,” Conacher said. “We are executing a clear strategy to return the company to profitability against a challenging market backdrop, taking decisive action to reduce our cost structure and evolve our assortment, promotional strategy and customer experience to better meet the needs of our consumer today. I look forward to working alongside our talented leadership team to continue building on the success of these efforts to date and advancing our key strategic priorities — our FitMap rollout, investing in AI and responding to increasing GLP-1 usage — to bolster our strong foundation for future growth.”
He added that “a thorough search” will be conducted “to identify the right leader to execute on our strategic priorities and capture the opportunities ahead in a dynamic consumer environment.”
Kanter, who joined DXL seven ago years in the top slot, said: “It has been a privilege to lead the DXL team, and I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made in advancing our vision of redefining the way our industry approaches inclusive fashion. Together, we have established DXL as the leading specialty retailer in men’s big and tall and built a platform that is well-positioned for future success. Lionel has significant M&A experience that will help us navigate both the FullBeauty merger transaction and Zodiac Partners’ unsolicited tender offer in the near term. He also has a deep understanding of our business. I am confident he is the right leader to guide DXL in this transition period and as we prepare for our next phase of growth.”
DXL has been dealing with two separate acquisition offers for months. At the end of last year, it agreed to a merger with FullBeauty, another retailer of extended sizes. Then Zodiac Partners II, the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based acquisition entity of Camac Fund, made an offer in mid-May, a deal that was sweetened in June.
DXL rejected Zodiac’s offers and last month advised shareholders to vote against the FullBeauty deal. No annual meeting date has been set and on Wednesday, the company was delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market and is now trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market since its share price was below $1 for 30 consecutive business days. The DXL stock closed at 59 cents.
Conacher has been on DXL’s board since 2018 and its chairman since August 2020. He was formerly CEO of SRx Health Solutions, managing partner of Next Ventures, senior adviser to Altamont Capital Partners and president and chief operating officer of Thomas Weisel Partners, an investment bank.
