Pimkie CEO leaves after just five months

Pimkie‘s CEO Sandrine Lilienfeld is calling it quits after just five months. Her vision and that of the new owners proved incompatible.

“Very different point of view”

On LinkedIn, Lilienfeld calls Pimkie the shortest adventure of her career. The CEO had only just been appointed in late February, when the company was acquired by Turkish textile manufacturer Ibisler Tekstil (along with the French division of Lee Cooper and the Kindy brand).

Previously, Pimkie was owned by the Mulliez family (best known for its involvement with Auchan), but they threw in the towel back in 2022. In consultation with crisis manager Philippe Favre, the family decided that such large investments were needed to get the company back on track that it was better to look for an acquirer.

However, Lilienfeld and the new owners appear to have “very different views” on how the necessary cutbacks should be done. She speaks, somewhat bitterly, of conflicting management values and incompatible world views. In late March, Pimkie announced it was closing almost a quarter of all its shops and cutting 257 jobs.