Levi’s CEO Chip Bergh to step down in January, handing over leadership to former CEO of Kohl’s

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Levi Strauss & Co. says that its CEO will step down in January and hand over the reins of the jeans maker to his appointed successor. Chip Bergh will cede the CEO job to Michelle Gass, who left her CEO role at Kohl’s to become president of Levi’s in January of this year. Bergh, who took over at the San Francisco company in September 2011, will stay on as executive vice chair until he retires in late April, Levi Strauss said. He will remain on as an advisor through the end of the fiscal year.