UNION, N.J., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath
& Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) has appointed John Hartmann as Chief Operating Officer of Bed
Bath & Beyond and President, buybuy BABY (BABY), effective
May 18, 2020. Mr. Hartmann will
report directly to Mark Tritton,
President & CEO, and be a key member of a streamlined senior
leadership team.
Hartmann will lead key areas of the Company's transformation
including IT, supply chain and real estate, working across the
Company's five strategic growth pillars to accelerate
decision-making and enhance connectivity across functions. He
will also be responsible for re-engineering the Company's supply
chain and technology infrastructure to enhance fulfilment, drive
cost improvements, improve customer experience and support the
introduction of omnichannel improvements such as
Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store (BOPIS) across its fleet of stores.
As President of BABY, John will be responsible for further
developing the growth strategy for this leading infant and small
children retail brand.
Mark Tritton, President &
CEO, said: "We continue to drive our growth plans and invest in
strategic talent, while managing through the COVID-19 situation,
backed by significant financial flexibility."
"John is a world-class leader with a passion for building
high-performing teams and deep expertise delivering transformation
in the retail sector. He will accelerate the execution of our
vision to make it easy to feel at home with Bed Bath & Beyond,
helping rebuild a modern, durable business and a deeper connection
with our loyal customers across our portfolio of brands."
Hartmann joins Bed Bath & Beyond from True Value Company,
one of the world's largest hardware wholesalers, where he was
President and Chief Executive Officer. Hartmann led True Value
through a significant business transformation that modernized and
strengthened its wholesale supply chain, accelerated technology
investments to align with the changing retail landscape and drove
growth and profitability across its 4,500 retail locations.
Prior to this, Mr. Hartmann was Chief Executive Officer of
leading home improvement company Mitre 10, Chief Operating Officer
at HD Supply, and has held senior positions at The Home Depot,
Cardinal Health and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"I am passionate about retail and thrilled to join the Company
to help transform this iconic brand. Together with the
leadership team, I am confident we will continue to increase the
pace of change to rebuild this business and support Bed Bath &
Beyond's omni-channel future," said Mr. Hartmann.
Recruiting strategic talent remains a top priority for the
Company, and it plans to announce additional appointments in the
coming weeks.
About Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is
an omnichannel retailer that makes it easy for its customers to
feel at home. The Company sells a wide assortment of
domestics merchandise and home furnishings. The Company also
provides a variety of textile products, amenities and other goods
to institutional customers in the hospitality, cruise line,
healthcare and other industries. Additionally, the Company is
a partner in a joint venture which operates retail stores in
Mexico under the name Bed Bath
& Beyond.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including, but not limited to, the Company's progress and
anticipated progress towards its long-term objectives and the
status of its search to fill strategic leadership roles. Many
of these forward-looking statements can be identified by use of
words such as may, will, expect, anticipate, approximate, estimate,
assume, continue, model, project, plan, goal, and similar words and
phrases, although the absence of those words does not necessarily
mean that statements are not forward-looking. The Company's
actual results and future financial condition may differ materially
from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements as a
result of many factors. Such factors include, without
limitation: general economic conditions including the housing
market, a challenging overall macroeconomic environment and related
changes in the retailing environment; risks associated with the
novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the governmental responses to it,
including its impacts across the Company's businesses on demand and
operations, as well as on the operations of the Company's suppliers
and other business partners, and the effectiveness of the Company's
actions taken in response to these risks; consumer preferences,
spending habits and adoption of new technologies; demographics and
other macroeconomic factors that may impact the level of spending
for the types of merchandise sold by the Company; civil
disturbances and terrorist acts; unusual weather patterns and
natural disasters; competition from existing and potential
competitors across all channels; pricing pressures; liquidity; the
ability to achieve anticipated cost savings, and to not exceed
anticipated costs, associated with organizational changes and
investments; the ability to attract and retain qualified employees
in all areas of the organization; the cost of labor, merchandise
and other costs and expenses; potential supply chain disruption due
to trade restrictions, and other factors such as natural disasters,
such as pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, political
instability, labor disturbances, product recalls, financial or
operational instability of suppliers or carriers, and other items;
the ability to find suitable locations at acceptable occupancy
costs and other terms to support the Company's plans for new
stores; the ability to establish and profitably maintain the
appropriate mix of digital and physical presence in the markets it
serves; the ability to assess and implement technologies in support
of the Company's development of its omnichannel capabilities; the
ability to effectively and timely adjust the Company's plans in the
face of the rapidly changing retail and economic environment,
including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; uncertainty in
financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common
stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, including
the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Company's capital allocation
strategy; risks associated with the ability to achieve a successful
outcome for its business concepts and to otherwise achieve its
business strategies; the impact of intangible asset and other
impairments; disruptions to the Company's information technology
systems including but not limited to security breaches of systems
protecting consumer and employee information or other types of
cybercrimes or cybersecurity attacks; reputational risk arising
from challenges to the Company's or a third party product or
service supplier's compliance with various laws, regulations or
standards, including those related to labor, health, safety,
privacy or the environment; reputational risk arising from
third-party merchandise or service vendor performance in direct
home delivery or assembly of product for customers; changes to
statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, including without
limitation proposed changes affecting international trade; changes
to, or new, tax laws or interpretation of existing tax laws; new,
or developments in existing, litigation, claims or assessments;
changes to, or new, accounting standards; and foreign currency
exchange rate fluctuations. The Company does not undertake
any obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.