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Her defining moment came with the shutdown of TLC Capital, the autonomous, sharklike unit whose roots went back to her husband's go-go years. Run by his Harvard roommate and best friend, W. Kevin Wright, it had as its purpose the pursuit of takeover targets. But the renegade unit had become a constant source of second-guessing of the new CEO. Wright, to Lewis' irritation, would continually ask whether "Reg would do it this way." After months of jousting, Lewis finally fired the entire department.
Lewis has been less adept in handling the issue of the company's racial identity. Beatrice had topped Black Enterprise magazine's list of African American-owned businesses every year. But Lewis set off a howl in the black community when she completely dropped financial contributions to more than 50 charitable foundations and organizations that her husband had supported, including the N.A.A.C.P., the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Boys Choir of Harlem, the Urban League and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Only a last-minute call from the Rev. Jesse Jackson's wife Jackie spared Jackson's "rainbow coalition." Lewis, who points out that she also cut off new donations to Harvard, public television and the Girl Scouts, says the decision to "suspend" the gifts was business, not personal. The racial identity of the company is a nonissue, she says, adding, "Reginald Lewis never looked at Beatrice as an ethnically oriented business, and neither do I." Board member Anthony Fugett, Jean's brother, disagrees. Beatrice, he says, "is owned by an African-American family, so it's an African-American company."
It's also a company with no operations in America, although Lewis hopes that will change. She sees global expansion as the path to new growth, especially for the company's Franprix and Leader Price supermarket businesses. With 420 stores in the Paris area, Franprix is one of the largest grocers in France. Lewis is betting the house, however, on the leader price discount chain, which sells merchandise for 30% to 40% less than the competition and is growing by 50 to 60 outlets a year. Beatrice plans to have 500 leader price stores open by 2001, perhaps several in the U.S. to pay for that expansion, say insiders, the company may have to dispose of its remaining food-manufacturing assets.
Lewis will not discuss the specifics of a possible sale of all or part of TLC Beatrice, but the company has taken its first step toward making TLC Beatrice a publicly traded firm. When, and if, she does sell equity on the stock market, Lewis will finally be positioned to complete the deal cycle her husband initiated and to cash out big time. Says she: "I guess you can say I didn't exactly follow in my husband's footsteps." No, but she has done a good job of filling his shoes.