Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Out
Mark Tritton is out as president and CEO of Bed Bath and Beyond.
The change in leadership comes just after the home specialty retailer reported a 25% drop in first quarter net sales. Sue Gove, a member of the company’s board of directors, has been named interim chief executive officer.
Tritton joined Bed Bath & Beyond in late 2019 from Target where he served as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
"After thorough consideration, the board determined that it was time for a change in leadership,” said Harriet Edelman, independent chair of Bed Bath & Beyond’s board of directors. “Our banner's heritage is built on the premise that when customers are shopping for the home, Bed Bath & Beyond is the perfect destination for unique solutions and inspiration.”
Edelman said the company is committed to addressing the “urgent issues” that have been impacting its sales, profitability and cash flow generation.
Additionally, the retailer has named Mara Sirhal as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. She most recently served as Bed Bath & Beyond's senior vice president and general manager for Harmon, as well as general merchandise manager of health, beauty and consumables. Sirhal will be responsible for driving the company's omnichannel merchandising, planning, and owned brands strategies, while also retaining her position as general manager for the Harmon retail banner. She will report directly to Gove and replace Joe Hartsig, who is leaving the company.
Bed Bath & Beyond has also retained Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a leading retail advisory firm, to focus on cash, inventory and balance sheet optimization. In addition, Russell Reynolds, a nationally recognized search firm, has been retained to commence a search process for the permanent chief executive officer role.
As the retailer searches for a new CEO, short-term it will have to recover from a difficult first quarter that saw net sales drop 25% to $1.46 billion. Company-wide comparable store sales were down 23% that included a 27% drop in comp-store sales at Bed Bath & Beyond banner stores and a mid-single digits drop in same store sales at buybuy Baby