CEOs Out, Two Retailers Now 'In'

Seth Johnson and Marvin Girouard succumbed this weekend to lower stock prices, and it's a darned good thing. For years I have seen CEOs just keep jobs regardless of how their stocks or their companies have performed. Anyone who has been to a Pacific Sunwear (PSUN - commentary - Cramer's Take) or a Pier One (PIR - commentary - Cramer's Take), respective homes of these two former CEOs, knows that these franchises can be mended. There's nothing wrong with them except execution, and that's about to change.

Axing a CEO's tough in this country. We see, time and again, that there's simply an entrenched mindset that says "This is our guy, for better or worse."

Take Peter Dolan at Bristol-Myers (BMY - commentary - Cramer's Take). This exec was one of the worst I have ever seen, but he was left to his own devices for years (perhaps because Jim Robinson, another terrible exec who almost ruined American Express (AXP - commentary - Cramer's Take), played an important role on the board?). Dolan probably would have stayed on -- of course, we're told he just resigned, not whether he was fired -- forever if it weren't for the pushing of U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie. He was the real driver, by the way.

Dolan's more typical of corporate America than Johnson or Girouard. He was king-like, and it's hard to topple the king.

I don't know why retailers are much quicker to take action than most other companies. Maybe it's that miserable same-story scoreboard. Whatever the reason, these two departures are most welcome, and you can tell that's the case given the quick jumps in both stocks.

What a welcome development.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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