Alain Caparros, the French executive recently named chairman of Karstadt's supervisory board, has resigned due to differences on strategic issues and operational methods with Nicolas Berggruen, who took over the company last year. One of the points of conflict is apparently Berggruen's proposal to split Karstadt into three distinct units – one for sporting goods, another for luxury stores and one for more generalist stores. Caparros is being replaced by Jared Bluestein, described as a close aid of Berggruen who acts as chief operating officer of Berggruen Holding. The latter's finance director, Thomas Crawford, will join Bluestein on Karstadt's board.

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