Former Sephora CEO Dies

Jacques Levy, the former president and chief executive officer of Sephora, died on Jan. 1 after a long illness. He was 62.

Funeral services were held for him in Los Angeles on Monday.

Levy — who stepped down from his role at the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned perfumery chain in March 2011 — was named president and CEP of Sephora in late 2005.

Under Levy, Sephora grew exponentially. When he joined the perfumery chain in 2003, it had about 400 European doors and 75 in the U.S. By Dec. 31, 2010, Sephora counted 673 stores in Europe, with 34 net new openings during the year, and 276 doors in North America. Worldwide, the perfumery chain had 1,070 stores, including 84 net openings at the end of 2010.

Sephora’s sales reportedly doubled during Levy’s seven-year tenure.

He joined LVMH from Staples International and prior to that held various executive positions at Disney. Levy also worked at Darty and Galeries Lafayette/Nouvelles Galeries.

Following his time at Sephora, Levy joined Guess as an adviser to Paul Marciano, a company founder.