Gleason/Calise Closes Its Doors

A crisis in management, not financial difficulties, led to the closure of Gleason/Calise/Associates, sources said last week.

The 15-year-old Dallas shop, which had $50 million in 2000 billings, abruptly stopped answering its phones late last month—apparently without informing its clients.

The closing followed the departure of several key executives from the shop over the last year, beginning with chief operating officer Laura Shepherd and group account director Diane McKenna.

The next blow was the October departure of partner and chief executive officer Charlie Calise, wholeft to form his own venture, Calise and Partners.

“Charlie was basically the backbone of that company,” a source at one of the agency’s clients said.