Shares for Boot Barn continue to take a hit on Wall Street Tuesday, one day after the Western footwear retailer announced the retirement of its longtime chief executive officer Jim Conroy.
Conroy, 54. has been at the helm of Boot Barn for 12 years. He is leaving the retailer to become CEO of Ross Stores, effective Feb. 2, 2025. He succeeds Barbara Rentler, who has served at CEO at the off-price retailer for the last 10 years.
In his place, John Hazen, the company’s current chief digital officer, will assume the role of interim CEO, effective Nov. 22.
As of market close on Tuesday afternoon, Boot Barn’s stock has dropped nearly 20 percent.
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The selloff is in contrast to how the retailer is actually performing financially. The company reported on Monday that it saw net sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 of $425.8 million, a 13.7 percent increase from $374.5 million in the prior-year period. This is up from the company’s expectations for the quarter, with sales forecasted to be between $405 million to $412 million, representing growth of 8.2 percent to 10 percent over the prior-year period.
But the positive results didn’t necessarily equate to Wall Street being happy with Boot Barn’s leadership change. Some analysts on Tuesday did their best to calm the nerves of investors.
“The long-term story remains in place, even with the CEO’s departure,” Williams Trading analyst Sam Poster wrote in a note on Tuesday. “Second quarter 2025 same store sales, revenue, and gross margin exceeded expectations. Customer retention is increasing, and it’s likely that the new interim CEO will accelerate the improvement. Fiscal year 2025 guidance was increased, and Boot Barn remains the best growth story in retail.”
Poser, who still rates Boot Barn stock as a “Buy” option, added that it appears as if the CEO transition will go smoothly, and a succession plan was in place. “Based on comments by Mr. Conroy, it appears likely that Mr. Hazen will become the next full time CEO,” Poser wrote.
William Blair analyst Dylan Carden echoed Poser’s positive sentiment in his own note on Tuesday. “We believe the company is in a good position here following a decisive inflection and proven traction in new markets for a successor to execute against the remaining 500-store opportunity,” Carden wrote.
“Conroy deserves immense credit for taking Boot Barn from a 100-plus store regional retailer through an IPO and period of consolidation to become one of the largest retailers in the western and workwear space,” Carden added. “Under his watch, the company successfully absorbed a series of acquisitions to expand its offering and geographic reach, setting up another 500 stores that can still be placed in the market on a base of 425.”
Carden noted that William Blair believes Boot Barn is in the “early innings of a comp and margin inflection, to suggest still many more quarters of upward revisions ahead, while arguably shares are finally more fully reflecting the tangible growth opportunity and favorable competitive positioning of the company.”
