Bed Bath & Beyond’s New CEO Ends 2019 With Executive Ousting
Bed Bath & Beyond said six senior executives, including its chief digital office, are leaving or have left the company, in what marks new CEO Mark Tritton’s first major maneuver since joining the retailer in October from Target.
The announcement comes ahead of Tritton's new vision for the company that will be launched in early 2020.
Five senior members are leaving their positions: the chief merchandising officer, chief marketing officer, chief digital officer, chief legal officer & general counsel, and chief administrative officer. The company's chief brand officer, resigned last week, Bed Bath & Beyond said.
Interim leads have been appointed and the company is looking to fill the positions of CMO, chief digital officer, general counsel, and a newly combined chief marketing and brand officer position.
The new team will be charged with streamlining decision-making, accelerating the pace of transformation, and re-establishing Bed Bath & Beyond through a more customer focused, omnichannel retail operation, a redefined product assortment, and a more convenient and inspirational shopping experience.
Tritton has over 30 years of experience in the retail industry, including most recently as EVP and CMO at Target Corporation, where he was instrumental in transforming the omnichannel shopping experience.
"We've helped millions of people make it easy to feel at home for almost half a century and our business remains uniquely placed to play an essential role in our customers' lives,” Tritton said. “To do so, we need to make the business we call home, as special as our customers make theirs. This is the first in a number of important steps we're taking. Balancing our existing expertise with fresh perspectives from new, innovative leaders of change, will help us to better anticipate and support our customers in their life journeys and shopping needs."
Bed Bath & Beyond grew its store closing plans earlier this year to 60 stores by the end of fiscal 2019, up from previous estimates that it would be closing about 40 locations.
“Through this fleet optimization project, we have refined our internal processes for evaluating our stores’ performance, which will benefit us going forward, especially as we look to capitalize on our heavy lease expiration cadence, where we have more than 400 leases across all concepts expiring over the next couple of years,” interim CEO Mary Winston said at the time.
Bed Bath & Beyond has come under intense pressure from a group of activist investors in recent months to take action and address its issues, according to Business Insider. These investors called for the resignation of its previous CEO and a shake-up of its leadership team.