Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> April 5, 2004
JOHN KYEES is Chief Financial Officer of Urban Outfitters, Inc. He is a
30 year veteran in the retail industry with CFO roles at several
retailers. Most recently he was CFO and CAO for bebe stores, Inc., a
185-store retailer headquartered in San Francisco, California. Mr. Kyees
was previously CFO for Skinmarket, a startup teenage cosmetic retailer,
CFO for Ashley Stewart and CFO for HC Holdings. His career began with
Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, where he was a Cost Accounting
Supervisor. Following Ford, he joined the J.L. Hudson Company, a large
regional department store located in Detroit, Michigan. At Hudson's he
held several director roles and finally the role as the Assistant to the
President. The startup world appealed to him and he helped establish a
car company manufacturing full-size operational models of the 1929 Model
A Roadster which was headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was CFO
for two years. From the Model A company, he moved to Chas. A. Stevens, a
division of Hartmarx, located in Chicago, as the CFO. He then became CFO
at Express (division of The Limited) in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Kyees was
part of the team that grew the business from 100 stores to 750 stores
and from $70 million to $1.5 billion. During that time they established
the Structure and Bath and BodyWorks businesses. His educational
background includes a BS in Business Administration from the University
of Kansas and an MBA in Finance from the University of Detroit. Profile
and a picture of the things you're doing at the present time.
Mr. Kyees: Urban Outfitters was formed in 1970; it was
