As the chief operating and financial officer of Jones Apparel Group, Inc, Wes Card ’70 heads a Fortune 500 company.
By Jennifer Sherwood ’89Photo(s) by Nora Lewis
He may not know it, but Wesley R. “Wes” Card is the envy of New York City fashionistas. With the recent acquisition of Barney’s New York by Jones Apparel Group, Card never has to wait in line for the trendiest clothes around. This probably wasn’t in his mind when he completed his B.S. in accounting at URI.
Wes Card is the chief operating and financial officer of Jones Apparel Group, Inc. A Fortune 500 company, Jones Apparel is a leading designer and marketer of branded apparel, footwear, and accessories. The company’s many nationally recognized brands include Jones New York, Evan- Picone, Gloria Vanderbilt, Nine West, Easy Spirit, Enzo Angiolini, Joan & David, Mootsies Tootsies, Sam & Libby, Anne Klein, and now Barney’s New York.
Card joined Jones New York in 1990 when it was still a small $200-million company with only 700 employees. In 2005, Jones Apparel Group will post over $5 billion in sales and has almost 19,000 employees. Card’s career has grown with the company.
“When I started I was primarily just the chief financial officer,” Card explained. “Then in 1991, Jones New York went public. We transitioned from a founder/owner run company to a true public company with lots of equity in the hands of independent shareholders. Afterwards, the opportunity came in operations where no one was really focusing—general operations, distribution, production systems, process, etc. I basically just evolved into managing all of that.”
Card, who worked his way through college and also received support from an alumni scholarship, entered URI as a management major but quickly changed to accounting. “I took Accounting 101 and got an A. I just really got it, and I could see that everyone else was struggling with the class,” Card recounted. “Somebody told me that people who work at accounting firms make a lot of money so I immediately switched majors.”
After URI, Card took a job at Price Waterhouse in Boston and earned his C.P.A. certificate. Five years later, he moved to Syracuse, N.Y., but decided that public accounting wasn’t really for him. He moved back to Boston taking a job with Bank of Boston for two years. Hathaway Shirt Company of Waterville, Maine, then recruited him to be their controller. “They were my favorite clients ever when I was at Price Waterhouse. I really liked the people,” he said. “We just meshed. I had a great rapport with all of the management there.” Card stayed with Warnaco, Inc., the conglomerate of apparel companies that included Hathaway Shirt, until 1989. After a brief stint at another fashion house, the opportunity arose at Jones New York.
“I guess I’ve come full circle,” Card noted. “As it turns out, I now do very little accounting. I supervise it, but I’m much more involved in management. It’s sort of interesting that it turned around that way for me. I think that you can teach the principles of management, but you’re either good at it or you’re not. Management has more to do with the way you are than what you know.”
Card clearly cares a lot about the people with whom he works. “I was just thinking about it this morning,” he said. “The people that I work with are close business associates, but many of them are also very close friends. In 15 years, you go through lots of really good highs and lots of lows and problems. That creates a bond.”
It’s not surprising that Jones Apparel Group has been so successful; it is obviously a company that recognizes and promotes talented individuals. “I think that tenure makes a big difference in a company,” Card explained. “We have very low turnover in the company as a whole. That makes a huge difference when you get into difficult situations. When people are experienced, the left arm knows how the right arm is going to react. There is a harmony that builds up that makes it much easier when you’re going over bumpy roads.”
Card also cares a lot about family. Although he works in New York City, he and his wife, Dianne, live in a community north of Boston. Two of their three sons live near the couple’s home. The other son lives close to New York City. “We used to live in Princeton, N.J.,” Card said. “But when my son and daughter-in-law were expecting our first grandchild, we decided to move closer. When you’re closer to your children, you can just develop a much better relationship.”
Many people complain about commuting, but Card embraces the opportunity. “I’ve been commuting for almost a year-and-a-half, and I really like it,” he said. “During the week I am focused on work and exercise—mostly work. But the weekends are like mini-vacations. For me there is a work part of the week and a fun, relaxation, family part of the week.”
Wes Card and Dianne Kenny Card, who earned a degree in physical education from URI in 1969, are skiers and love the beach. In the winter, the entire family likes to rendezvous at the Cards’ vacation home in Killington, Vt., for skiing. When asked about their full lives, Card laughs. “My wife would say we’re antsy,” he said.
In spite of their busy schedules, the Cards volunteered to chair URI’s 2004-2005 Alumni Fund. Wes Card believes in looking out for family, and to him, if you’re a URI graduate, then you’re part of an important family. “It really struck me that it is up to us as alumni to look out for our URI family. I’ve been very interested in watching other alumni. And, I think we would all look back on our college experience and say it’s where we got started. It provided a foundation for our life.”
As Card sums it up, “If we don’t do it, no one else will.”
Jennifer Sherwood ’89 is the director of development and marketing for Turtle Bay Music School in New York City.
