Regis Corp., operator of the nation's largest chain of hair salons, said Monday that it had appointed Hugh Sawyer, a business consultant with an operations background, to succeed Dan Hanrahan as chief executive.
The change comes just months after Regis engaged Sawyer's employer, Chicago-based Huron Consulting Group, for help accelerating a shift to greater franchisee ownership of its salons.
Regis has struggled to grow and produce consistent profits after a multiyear update of its in-store technology system and restructuring of the regional management.
Its same-store sales were down 2.3 percent in the first half of its current fiscal year, the latest period reported, and overall revenue was off 5 percent. Earnings before taxes and other expenses were up, however, and the company had a marginal net profit in the six-month period.
Regis shares have been trading near a 20-year low and fell nearly 4 percent to $10.72 Monday on the news of the executive turnover.
Hanrahan joined Regis as president and chief executive in August 2012 after previously serving as CEO of Celebrity Cruises, the Miami-based cruise and resort firm.
He came in at a rocky time, just a year after the company had tried and failed to sell itself. Regis was also under attack from activist hedge funds seeking a better performance.
As chief executive, Hanrahan oversaw deployment of a point-of-sale system that gave its 9,400 salons a better grip on customer habits, but the effort took longer than expected. The firm more recently began studying ways to shift some of its 6,600 company-owned salons to franchisees.
