He has spoken — or not, as the case may be.
 
Michael Jeffries, the chief executive of high-flying trendy apparel chain Abercrombie & Fitch will no longer speak to analysts during quarterly earnings conference calls.
 
“As our company continues to grow, the demands on Mike Jeffries, our CEO, become more and more increasing,” said Chief Financial Officer Mike Kramer during the second-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Kramer said Jeffries’ time was better served focusing on growth initiatives, a new store concept and international expansion.
    
The news from the notoriously tight-lipped company did not sit too well with some on Wall Street, though most completely ignored it in their analyst reports on the company.
 
One who did not was J.P. Morgan’s Brian Tunick who began his report thus: “Despite the news that Chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries could not find four hours per year to talk to investors, we again walked away impressed with Abercrombie’s ability to profitably execute its growth plan despite the third consecutive quarter of negative comps.” 
    
Another analyst, who declined to be named, told Reuters the news was not surprising. Still, he added: “It’s not optimal, given that he is the merchant leader of the company. It would be nice to hear from him once a quarter.”

Said another: “The Street’s not liking that.” 

Sure, CEOs are busy, and sometimes can’t make a scheduled call. McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner has missed three quarterly earnings  calls since becoming CEO at the end of 2004, for example. But in making the absence standard, Abercrombie now joins the ranks of retailers such as Gap, Macy’s, Dillard’s and Walgreen, which at one time or another in their histories have had CEOs routinely absent from quarterly conference calls.
                                                 
In Abercrombie’s case, seems like if you sell the coolest jeans and tops around to hordes of teenage fans around the country, you’re allowed to stay mum.