Jerry Calabrese resigns as President and CEO of Lionel

He's going to focus on other "personal interests" including Billboard Magazine??  Wow, I had no idea Lionel and Billboard were owned by the same company.  

- Mike

Spoken like a true gentleman.  He will be missed.

Art

Interesting that it's a week before York. Wonder if Lionel is making an announcement on a successor next week? 

I think we all saw this coming. It was simply a matter of time. He indeed had the reigns at Lionel during some very troublesome times and we should all wish him well in his next position.

His successor is already in place.  Howard Hitchcock.  (He may not hold the title CEO, but it was made pretty clear I think that he was to be in charge, and mostly has been once they brought him into Lionel)

He did extraordinarily well indeed, by any metric.  When he was appointed, a few folks with a longstanding animus to Lionel came up with unflattering sobriquets like "comic book man," in reference to his time at Marvel Comics.  Boy did he prove them wrong big time . 

A number of well known additions to Lionel's staff, now amongst the leaders in the industry,  occurred on his watch, such as Mike R. and Jon Z.,  and others I don't know about.  Calabrese's team unequivocally brought Lionel back to the leadership position in the three rail world,  from the standpoints of product diversity and technical innovation.  I wish him the best in the next stage of his life.

Jerry will be missed.  He was at the helm of Lionel, taking the company through a very rough economic period and did so quite successfully.  I always enjoyed the interviews with Jerry.  Best of luck to you.

Steve, Lady and Tex

I am grateful for the time Jerry Calabrese spent leading Lionel.   He has left it in better shape and with many exciting products.   I wish him good luck in his future endevors. 

Wow! Certainly, a little added interest as we approach York Week.

Peter

Goodbye to Lionel

When I alluded to this on the forum a short time ago, there was strong disagreement on the subject. Now that it has come to fruition all we can do is wish Jerry Calabrese well in his future endeavors. Jerry will be known as the CEO that successfully guided Lionel though bankruptcy and onto firm financial footing. He was there when Lionel developed many innovative new products including the state-of-the-art Legacy system  Now a new era begins and perhaps a different direction will emerge. 

I can only wish him the best.  He sailed the company through perilous seas and made it bigger and better.  I hope his successors keep up the good work he began.

I agree that Lionel has come out of the last decade much stronger & better with Jerry at the helm.  The aforementioned "comic man jabs" & the argument of 3rd party TMCC development getting quashed during his time with Lionel by taking over ERR & RS4 component availability contributing to the closing of DD's doors & the rather enigmatic fading away of TAS (to be fair, the process was already in place prior to Jerry with Lionel taking over IC Controls) were well-known criticisms of his leadership.  But when it's all said & done, he was brought in to keep Lionel a going concern & maintain profitability for Guggenheim during Lionel's most challenging & troubling times in recent history.  And to that end, he and his team accomplished what he set out to do, with a continuing variety of products and technical innovations and a parts & service department that's head and shoulders above how it used to be.

Best of luck to him in his future endeavors. 

Odd timing.....York next week will have lots to talk about!!!

Good luck Jerry.

Another item for us all to talk about at York!  I agree, he leaves the company in much better shape than he found it.

Didn't they also say that at the end of the postwar period?  Hard to imagine that Guggenheim, let alone Lionel, would be so naive as to have another Roy Cohn-type at the helm again, at least not consciously.

All in favor of Mike Reagan as CEO say I!!!!! And thank you Jerry for your leadership and wisdom best wishes!!!!

I'll vote for Mike, as well!!!!

Interesting, while he never really connected with the "Train Guys" he did lead the company through a period most others would have declared bankruptcy and run. Not only did he save Lionel he put it way back on top of the O-Gauge world.

Since he has been pretty quiet for the last year or so, and we know that Howard Hitchcock seems to be a strong leader, I think Lionel is in great hands for the future.