Chico's rebuts investor

FORT MYERS — The board battle at Chico's FAS took another turn Wednesday as the women's retailer responded to a critical shareholder who has nominated two directors.

In a lengthy statement posted on its site Wednesday, Chico's says Barington Capital Group's two director nominees aren't qualified to be on the company's board and accused it of a “self-serving proxy contest.”

Barington has nominated its president and CEO, James Miratonda, and Janet Grove, the former vice chairman of Macy's department store chain, to Chico's board in a proxy contest. Chico's nominees include Shelley Broader, the president and CEO of Chico's; Bonnie Brooks, vice chairman of Hudson's Bay Co.; Janice Fields, former president of McDonald's USA; and Bill Simon, former president and CEO of Walmart U.S.