Canton, Mass. — Tweeter Newco president/CEO George Granoff has left the company after 13 months on the job.
He was succeeded on an interim basis by Craig Boucher, a partner in CRG Partners, a Bethesda, Md.-based restructuring firm.
Tweeter’s senior management team will report directly to Boucher, who will serve as chief restructuring officer. All other reporting lines within the company will remain in place.
The change was confirmed by Tweeter Newco chairman George Schultze, principal of Schultze Asset Management. The Purchase, N.Y.-based investment group, which specializes in distressed businesses, acquired the A/V specialty chain in a bankruptcy auction for $38 million in August 2007.
In a memo sent to vendors and employees today and obtained by TWICE, Schultze attributed the move to the “current extreme economic conditions and the company’s recent peformance.”
During what Schultze described as a “temporary transition period,” Boucher will be responsible for developing and implementing strategic alternatives, assisting in the company’s day-to-day operations and communicating with all key parties.
According to CRG Partners, Boucher has more than 20 years’ experience in corporate restructuring and crisis management, with particular expertise in the retail and consumer products industries. Prior to joining CRG in June, he served as chief financial officer of Jane & Company, a privately held cosmetic firm, and before that was a managing director of the interim management and corporate restructuring division of the retail/consumer products industry practice at XRoads Solutions Group.
During his career, Boucher has developed and implemented numerous operational restructuring programs that have “substantially increased enterprise value for his clients,” CRG said.
Granoff, a former president/COO of the Ames and Bradlees discount chains, succeeded Joe McGuire following Tweeter’s acquisition by Schultze. During his tenure, Granoff revamped the chain’s infrastructure by consolidating warehouses and moving to a just-in-time delivery model to reduce inventory. He also oversaw the development of a new store prototype highlighted by the use of automated displays.
