Management Turnover as Change Agent

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Troubled Circuit City Loses Head Merchandiser

As Circuit City continues to follow an opposite path (declining) of its arch rival, Best Buy, it has found itself hit with another executive defection. Yesterday it was announced that David L. Mathews, executive vice president of merchandising, services and marketing was leaving his position to become president of Orchard Brands, a specialty retailer owned by private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital. The company has been reeling for some time now. In 2006 Philip Schoonover became the company's new CEO. Schoonover had previously served as Circuit City's chief merchandiser.

Schoonover has been attempting to right the ship, but so far has had little success. Over the last year the firm lost three top executive which now includes Mathews. Mathews' exit could not come at a worse time. The electronics retailer is gearing up for the Christmas selling season. Merchandising is key to success during the holiday season.

For more on the turnover see:

MSNBC
Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

1 comment:

jgoodie said...

Does it matter who’s at the helm of an ailing company? GM reported a $39 billion lost today. Yet there are those who believe that the company can turn itself around. The NewsVisual article http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/2007/11/gm.html presents a map of its company’s board, and thereby concludes that they have the collective experience to surmount this crisis.