Sue Gove
Union, N.J. – An independent board director has been named interim CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond and the company has promoted an insider to lead merchandising.
The company announced this morning that Sue Gove, who is also chair of the board’s strategy committee, is serving as interim chief executive officer, replacing Mark Tritton, who in now out as president and CEO and as a member of the board.
Mara Sirhal
In addition, Mara Sirhal has been named EVP and chief merchandising officer. She replaces Joe Hartsig, who is leaving the company. Sirhal was most recently Bed Bath & Beyond’s senior VP and general manager for Harmon, as well as general merchandise manager of health, beauty & consumables. She will be responsible for driving the company’s omnichannel merchandising, planning and private label brand strategies, while also retaining her position as general manager for the Harmon retail banner. She will report directly to Gove.
Gove has been an independent director of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. since May 2019, when a major executive shake-up saw the exist of then-CEO Steve Temeras and several other senior leaders.
She has spent more than 30 years within the retail industry serving a variety of senior financial, operating and strategic roles that included president and CEO of Golfsmith International Holdings and chief operating officer of Zale Corporation. She is the president of Excelsior Advisors, LLC, a retail consulting and advisory firm founded in August 2014.
The news arrived this morning along with Bed Bath & Beyond’s report on first quarter results. Overall sales for the quarter ended May 28 fell 25% with consolidated comp down 27%.
Harriet Edelman, independent chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. board, thanked Tritton and Hartsig for their contributions to the company. The board has retained Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a retail advisory firm, to focus on cash, inventory and balance sheet optimization. In addition, Russell Reynolds, a nationally recognized search firm, haos been retained to commence a search process for the permanent chief executive Officer role.
The company continues to “unlocking the future potential” of the buybuy Baby business, it said.
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