Stroke Sidelines Claire's Chief

Rowland Schaefer, chairman, president and ceo of Claire's Stores Inc. (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), has taken a leave of absence following a mild stroke.

Until his expected return, which the company says will be “in approximately six months,” his responsibilities will be assumed by daughters Marla and Bonnie Schaefer, currently co-vice chairmen.

“While building Claire's has been my life's work,” said Rowland Schaefer, “I have been fortunate to be joined in this endeavor by two of my daughters. They have learned the business from the ground up and I have the utmost confidence in their ability to lead during my absence. Bonnie and Marla have the support of a strong board of directors and an excellent management team. Working together, I have absolutely no doubt that Claire's will continue to prosper despite my temporary absence from the office.”

For the duration of Schaefer's leave, all individuals previously reporting to him will now report directly to one of the two daughters or to cfo Ira Kaplan.

In a joint statement, Marla Schaefer and Bonnie Schaefer noted that, “The smoothness with which changes were implemented today is a tribute to the succession planning process that has been underway at Claire's for quite some time, with Rowland's full support. While Rowland's presence will be missed during this absence, we look forward to his return. We have deep ties to this organization and years of experience overseeing multiple facets of the company's operations. As a result, we anticipate that the business will function as usual.”

Schaefer, previously a manufacturer of wigs and accessories, founded Claire's Stores in the early 1980s. Marla Schaefer began her career with Claire's in 1981 as an executive assistant to her father. She was named resident buyer for the New York office in 1986 and in 1990 became vp of fashion merchandising for Claire's Boutiques. In March 1998, she was appointed vice chairman of the board and in April of that same year she became senior vp of Claire's Boutiques. In April 2002, she was appointed secretary of Claire's Stores Inc. Marla has been actively involved in new business development, marketing and development of the Company's Internet strategy.

Bonnie Schaefer began her career with Claire's in 1987 as a sales associate at one of the mall-based Claire's stores, progressing to store manager. For two years, she worked outside the company with HL Yoh, a subcontractor of IBM, but re-joined Claire's Stores in 1990. In 1994, she was named vp of real estate at Claire's Boutiques. She joined the board in 1998 and became co-vice chairman in January 1999. She also serves on the board of Claire's Nippon, a joint-venture between Claire's Stores and AEON Corp. Ltd. (Chiba, Japan), a $20 billion specialty retailer. For the past 10 years, she has overseen the development of Claire's Southeastern U.S., Puerto Rican and Caribbean operations. In addition, she has been active in store and field operations and in the management of real estate operations throughout North America. And, as a board member of Claire's France, Switzerland and U.K. corporations, she has been actively involved in international expansion.

Claire's operates nearly 2900 boutiques in the United States, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Canada, U.K., Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France, primarily in malls, under the Claire's, The Icing, Bijoux One and Cleopatre nameplates. It also operates more than 100 stores in Japan through its subsidiary Claire's Nippon, Co. Ltd. as a 50:50 joint venture with AEON. It recently sold its Mr. Rags operation, which offered apparel for boys.