It took new Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Mark Tritton less than two months to clear out nearly the chain’s entire executive suite.
On Tuesday, Bed Bath & Beyond announced that six members of its C-Suite were leaving, including its chief merchandising officer, chief marketing officer and chief digital officer. Three of the six had been with Bed Bath & Beyond for more than 20 years.
Bringing in “fresh perspectives from new, innovative leaders of change” will help Bed Bath & Beyond adapt to consumers’ shopping needs, Tritton said in a statement.
The company’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of stores also left earlier this year. That means the company’s chief financial officer is the only remaining executive officer at Bed Bath & Beyond other than Tritton, Target’s former chief merchandising officer, who was announced as CEO in October. He started on Nov. 4.
Tritton worked in Target’s C-suite before Bed Bath & Beyond, helping build the chain’s popular stable of private-label clothing and home furnishings’ brands. He has also been an executive at Nordstrom, Nike and Timberland.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s decision to bring in a chief executive from a top competitor has won support on Wall Street. Bed Bath & Beyond’s stock rallied 4 percent Tuesday on the leadership changes.
The overhaul is not surprising, Cristina Fernandez, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, said in a note to clients. “It points to decisive and bold actions to execute a turnaround.”
Bed Bath & Beyond desperately needs a new vision. It has struggled in recent years to compete with traditional retailers such as Walmart and Target, as well as online retailers like Amazon and Wayfair.
Bed Bath & Beyond is “not an easy turnaround, given its market share losses and declining profitability in recent years,” said Fernandez. But her firm believes “Tritton can leverage his experience at Target and implement a number of changes to improve performance at Bed Bath & Beyond.”
Those include adding new exclusive and private-label brands, improving the in-store experience and speeding up deliveries and online pickups, she said.
Bed Bath & Beyond reports earnings next month, and Tritton is expected to expand on his transformation plans then.
In October, Winston announced during a call that 60 stores will be shuttered. Earlier this year, the company said it would close 40 of its stores. The closings are expected until after the coming holiday season is over, Winston said during the call, reported USA Today. The firm’s fiscal year usually ends in early March.
“With this action we are increasing the profitability of our remaining portfolio and believe that our remaining fleet will benefit from our renewed focus on driving traffic and operating efficiency,” Winston was quoted by the outlet as saying.
According to a profile of the company, the New Jersey-based chain was founded in 1971 and currently has about 60,000 employees.
By the end of August, the firm had about 1,534 stores, including 993 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, USA Today noted.
So far this year, retailers have announced more than 8,000 store closures, which exceeds last year’s total of 5,864 closure, says a report from Coresight Research.
The CNN Wire and Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
