Baby and children’s apparel retailer Carter’s Inc. is in search of a new CEO after longtime leader Michael Casey announced his departure.
Casey served in the CEO role for 15 years before announcing his retirement, meaning infants who wore Carter’s ubiquitous onesies when he took the helm of the company are now on the verge of getting their driver’s licenses. That’s almost double the tenure of the average CEO, which is about 7.2 years, according to executive consulting firm Equilar.
“It has been the honor of my career to lead Carter’s alongside our talented and dedicated team,” Casey said in a press release announcing his retirement. “Together, we have built the strongest and most trusted brands in young children’s apparel, grown our unique multi-channel business model, and strengthened our marketing and operational capabilities.”
Carter’s ranks No. 86 in the Top 1000 Database. Digital Commerce 360’s database ranks the largest North American online retailers by their annual web sales. Within the database, Carter’s falls under the Apparel & Accessories category. Carter’s also owns and operates OshKosh.com and SkipHop.com. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Carter’s online sales will reach $1.09 billion in 2025.
Carter’s web sales by year
Departure of Carter’s CEO
Casey served in other leadership roles at Carter’s for 15 years before taking the CEO role.
“As we enter a new year, I believe it is the right time for me to retire and for the company to identify its next leader,” Casey said. “Carter’s is in good hands and well-positioned to strengthen its leadership of the young children’s apparel market in the years ahead.”
Sean McHugh, vice president and treasurer of Carter’s, told Digital Commerce 360 that the company had no additional comment regarding Casey’s departure beyond the press release.
But Sidharth Ramsinghaney, retail expert and director of strategy and operations at cloud communications platform Twilio, said Casey’s retirement comes at a crossroads for Carter.
“Carter’s faces both opportunities and challenges in its next chapter,” said Ramsinghaney, who previously worked as a consultant for McKinsey.
Ramsinghaney said Carter’s ideal CEO candidate should focus on three key areas.
- Digital commerce expertise
- Supply chain innovation
- Brand evolution experience
Regarding digital commerce expertise, Ramsinghaney said baby and children’s apparel has increasingly shifted online, accelerated by changing consumer behaviors.
“The company reported significant digital transformation initiatives during Casey’s tenure, but the next CEO must further advance Carter’s omnichannel capabilities and digital-first strategy,” Ramsinghaney added.
He said recent market challenges have underscored the importance of supply chain resilience, which the new CEO will have to fortify.
“The next leader should bring experience in modernizing supply chains and optimizing inventory management across channels,” Ramsinghaney said.
Additionally, “while Carter’s maintains strong brand recognition, its next CEO needs to understand how to evolve legacy brands for new generations of parents while maintaining core equity,” Ramsinghaney said.
15 years of changes
The CEO change comes as Carter’s faces sluggish sales despite its market dominance. According to the company’s most recent earnings report, it saw net sales decline 4% year over.
Ramsinghaney said the decline in sales may suggest the company could benefit from new approaches to growth.
“However, with over $2.8 billion in annual revenue and profitable operations, wholesale transformation isn’t necessary,” Ramsinghaney said.
Carter’s faces a dynamically different retail landscape than the one Casey inherited 15 years ago, Ramsinghaney said. Changes include the rise of digitally native children’s brands leveraging social media and influencer marketing and expanding mass merchant private label offerings, which have cut into Carter’s market share. The competition has put pressure on the margins.
“The next CEO will need to address these market dynamics while leveraging Carter’s core strengths: brand trust, multi-channel distribution, and product development capabilities,” Ramsinghaney says.
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