Signet CEO Barnes resigns, replaced by Mark Light

Akron, Ohio--Signet Jewelers Ltd. announced early Tuesday that CEO Mike Barnes has stepped down, citing his “personal desire” to find a job closer to his home and family in Dallas. 

Barnes also will leave the Akron-based company’s board of directors and be replaced in both capacities by longtime Signet executive Mark Light, currently the company’s president and chief operating officer. The changes will be effective Oct. 31. 

“Mike has been the leader of the Signet executive management team during a period of outstanding transformation and growth. He has played a critical role in Signet’s recent acquisition of Zale Corporation and its continuing integration,” said Todd Stitzer, chairman of the Signet board. “We understand and respect his personal desire to relocate nearer to his family and pursue opportunities closer to his home in Dallas at this time. On behalf of Signet, I thank Mike for his many contributions to Signet and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

He said Light, who has been with Signet for more than 30 years, is an “experienced, strategic leader” who has been involved in the company’s Vision 2020 strategy, the acquisition and ongoing integration of Zale, has played a key role in the retailer’s growth strategy, and has been an advisor to the managing director of the company’s U.K. business since 2013, becoming formally responsible for it in mid-2014. 

“The board of directors is confident that Mark is the right person to lead the company forward,” Stitzer said.

Barnes, the former president of accessories company Fossil, became CEO of Signet in January 2011, replacing the retiring Terry Burman. 

In his more than three years with the company, Barnes oversaw a number of new initiatives, including the purchase of a diamond polishing facility in Gaborone, Botswana. 

But nothing was as big as the culmination of consolidation in the jewelry industry: the merger of Signet, owner of Sterling Jewelers (Kay Jewelers, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry) with longtime rival Zale Corp. 

The merger, which was completed earlier this year, makes Signet one of the largest specialty jewelers in the world, with more than 3,000 stores in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and ownership of mall mainstays including Zales, Piercing Pagoda and Kay Jewelers.