Bed Bath & Beyond interim CEO Sue Gove to take on role permanently

Reuters

(Reuters) -Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc said on Wednesday that interim Chief Executive Sue Gove will keep the role permanently.

Gove, previously the head of the strategy committee and an independent director in the company, was named the interim CEO in June after it replaced Mark Tritton in a management shake-up to reverse a slump in its business.

The company said the appointment was unanimous and Gove will remain on its board.

Once considered a so-called “category killer” in home and bath goods, the big box retailer’s fortunes have dragged after attempts to sell more store-branded products flopped and led to the reshuffle of its management team.


Gove told Reuters one of her biggest long-term goals as CEO will be “regaining market share.”


The changes in the top management came just months after activist investor and billionaire Ryan Cohen had criticized the company for an “overly ambitious” strategy, overpaying top executives and failing to reverse market share losses.

Cohen was the company’s biggest investor until August when he sold out his 9.8% stake.

Late August, Bed Bath & Beyond inked deals for more than $500 million in new financing and said that it would close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy to turn around its money-losing business.

Gove said that “less than a handful” have been closed since August and that a number of stores will close “closer to the end of this calendar year.”

Last month, the company reported a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss, but added that there were early signs that efforts to clear excess inventory were working and it expected its cash flow to break even in the fourth quarter.

In September, the company had named accounting head Laura Crossen as interim chief financial officer following the death of finance chief Gustavo Arnal.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Sriraj Kalluvila and Josie Kao)

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