Fort Worth, Texas –
RadioShack chairman and CEO Julian Day will retire in May after nearly five
years in those roles.
He will be succeeded as
CEO by chief financial officer Jim Gooch, who was immediately promoted to
president, while presiding board director Daniel Feehan, president/CEO of Cash
America International, will become non-executive board chairman upon Day’s retirement.
A retail turnaround
specialist with a reputation for slashing costs, Day led an overhaul of
RadioShack operations that helped streamline the business and latter launched a
rebranding campaign dubbed “The Shack” which repositioned the company toward a
younger, 21
st
Century consumer.
“Julian has led
RadioShack through a significant business transformation since 2006,” Feehan
said in a statement. “His highly disciplined approach to cost control and
focus on profitability has greatly strengthened our balance sheet and financial
foundation. At the same time, he also brought value to our brand by
instilling a strong sense of customer service in all of our retailing channels
and has revitalized our company with consumers. Thanks to his leadership and
the efforts of RadioShack employees, our company is financially strong and has
a rebalanced product portfolio.”
Day noted, “It has been a
privilege to be a part of the transformation of RadioShack. We have built an
organization that is well positioned for the future, and this is the right time
for me to step aside and for the company to transition to new leadership.”
Gooch, 43, joined
RadioShack in his current position in August 2006 and has been responsibility
for a broad range of functions including finance, global sourcing and supply
chain management including inventory planning, information technology, real
estate, investor relations, public relations and human resources.
Prior to joining
RadioShack, Gooch spent 10 years at Kmart Holding Corp. under Day, who had
variously served there as president, COO and CEO.
Feehan added that Gooch “has
been a key element” of RadioShack’s success. “I am delighted that in Jim we
have a dynamic senior executive, well-known and respected by our stakeholders,
who can effect a seamless transition and drive consistent growth in the
business.”
Separately, RadioShack
announced its preliminary unaudited results for the fourth quarter ending Dec.
31, 2010. Preliminary total net sales
and operating revenues for increased approximately 4 percent to $1.4 billion,
and comparable-store sales for U.S. company-operated stores and kiosks
increased approximately 1 percent.
Preliminary total net
sales and operating revenues in the quarter were driven primarily by wireless
platform sales growth. However, preliminary consolidated gross margin declined,
primarily due to the disappointing performance of the company’s T-Mobile business,
a higher sales mix of lower-margin wireless handsets, and incremental
promotional and clearance markdowns associated with seasonal sell-through and
product transitions in non-wireless platforms.
An increase in
preliminary consolidated selling, general and administrative expenses reflects
infrastructure investment to support the Target Mobile kiosk roll-out,
partially offset by continued cost control initiatives.
RadioShack expects to
report final audited fourth-quarter and full-year financial results the week of
Feb. 21, 2011.
