CEO Peter Ruis has resigned from Indigo Books & Music just as the company is gearing up for the launch of its new store concept this month.
Indigo announced Ruis’s departure on September 7, and said he has agreed to serve as a consultant for the next two months to support the leadership transition. Indigo did not give a reason for Ruis’s departure in the release. While the company looks for a new CEO, Indigo said CFO Craig Loudon and senior vice president and general counsel Damien Liddle will work closely with the board to provide direction.
His resignation follows on the heels of Indigo president Andrea Limbardi’s departure, announced in early June. She assumed the role of president and CEO of clothing retailer Reitmans Canada on September 5, as well as joining the clothing company’s board.
Ruis’s high-profile departure comes just two months after four of the company’s directors resigned and founder and longtime CEO Heather Reisman announced her retirement, which came into effect on August 22.
Ruis, who had previously held executive roles at Anthropologie and John Lewis, joined Indigo as president in early 2021, and was promoted to CEO – and joined the board of directors – in September 2022, when Reisman stepped down from that role.
The shakeups at the board and departures from the C-suite come after a year in which Indigo suffered a cybersecurity incident that shut down its website for two weeks this winter. In releasing its year-end report in June, Indigo said the cyberattack likely cost the company $19 million. At that time, Ruis said the company hoped to “inject momentum” into the business with the launch of the new flagship store at The Well in Toronto.