NEW YORK (AP) - Apparently, Men's Wearhouse Inc. doesn't like the way its founder looks anymore.
In a terse release issued Wednesday, Men's Wearhouse said it has fired the face of the company and its executive chairman, George Zimmer, who appeared in many of its TV commercials with the slogan "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it."
In a statement issued to CNBC, Zimmer said that over the past several months he and the company's board disagreed about the company's direction and that the board "inappropriately has chosen to silence my concerns," by firing him.
Men's Wearhouse gave no reason for the abrupt firing of Zimmer, who built Men's Wearhouse from one small Texas store using a cigar box as a cash register to one of the North America's largest specialty men's clothiers with 1,143 locations.
The AP could not immediately reach Zimmer for comment.
The timing of the announcement was odd -it happened the morning the company's annual shareholder meeting had been set to take place. The company delayed the meeting but didn't give a new date.
The company said the purpose of postponing the annual meeting is to re-nominate the existing board of directors without Zimmer. It said the board expects to discuss with Zimmer the extent, if any, and terms of "his ongoing relationship" with the company.
The news shocked analysts and corporate governance experts, who tried to speculate what happened.
"This is very rare to fire a founder. Founders are generally entrenched in the company," said Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance, a board advisory firm.
Zimmer, who handed over his CEO title to Douglas Ewert in 2011, was the company's personable, down-to-earth face, his slogan almost a cultural touchstone.
As of early afternoon, the company's website still prominently spotlighted Zimmer, calling him "The Man Behind The Brand" and linking to YouTube videos of "the man in action."
The abrupt departure comes a week after Men's Wearhouse reported that its fiscal first-quarter profit increased 23 percent, helped by stronger profit margins and an earlier prom season.