UNION, N.J., May 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Bed Bath &
Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) today announced that Mary Winston, a seasoned public company
executive who recently joined the Bed Bath & Beyond Board of
Directors, has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer,
effective immediately. Steven
Temares has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer
and resigned as a member of the Bed Bath & Beyond
Board.
The Board has formed a CEO search committee to identify a
permanent CEO and will retain an executive search firm to assist in
the search process. The Board's search process will focus on
individuals who have transformation and innovation experience in
the retail sector.
In addition, the Board appointed Andrea
Weiss, a long-time retail executive who also recently joined
the Bed Bath & Beyond Board, as Chair of the Business
Transformation and Strategy Review Committee, which will be
responsible for ensuring that all aspects of the Company's ongoing
business transformation are addressed. Ms. Weiss and the Committee
will work closely alongside Ms. Winston in her role as Interim CEO
and the other members of the leadership team to identify
opportunities for rapid performance improvement of both short- and
long-term results.
Patrick Gaston, Independent
Chairman of the Bed Bath & Beyond Board, stated, "Bed Bath
& Beyond has a significant opportunity to drive value creation
by building on its great brands and strong customer affinity. As
the Company continues its efforts to improve its financial
performance and enhance its competitive position, the Board
determined that now is the right time to identify the next
generation of leadership. We are fortunate to have someone of
Mary's caliber to serve as Interim CEO while the Board conducts a
search for a permanent successor, and are confident in her ability
to lead the Company forward during this transition period."
Ms. Winston said, "This is an important time for Bed Bath &
Beyond and we are committed to being the leading omnichannel
retailer of choice for the home and heart-felt life events.
Together with the Board, including the members of the Business
Transformation and Strategy Review Committee, the leadership team
and our more than 60,000 associates, I look forward to building an
even stronger future for Bed Bath & Beyond. As we continue to
review our business initiatives, we will be focused on driving
continued margin improvement, enhancing the in-store and online
experience, and accelerating our transformation to the benefit of
our shareholders, customers and other stakeholders."
Mr. Gaston added, "During Steven's tenure as CEO, Bed Bath &
Beyond has grown into an iconic omnichannel retailer with a strong
portfolio of brands, more than 1,500 stores and an expanding
digital presence. On behalf of the Board, I thank him for his
unwavering commitment and tireless service, and wish him the best.
We also extend our continued appreciation to the entire leadership
team and to all of our associates for their unceasing focus on
transforming Bed Bath & Beyond and executing on our
priorities."
Mr. Temares said, "It has been a privilege to serve with my
fellow associates for these past twenty seven years. It has always
been, and will always be, about our people. There are truly no
words to adequately express my gratitude to them and I will miss
them immensely. I continue to trust in them and look forward to
great accomplishments in the years to come."
On May 1, 2019, five new
independent directors joined the Bed Bath & Beyond Board. This
follows the appointment of two new independent directors in 2018,
and one new independent director in 2017, with a total of eight new
independent directors having recently joined the Board. Upon the
completion of the leadership transition announced today, Bed Bath
& Beyond's Board will consist of nine members, eight of whom
are independent.
About Mary Winston
Ms. Winston is a seasoned executive with significant governance
expertise across a broad range of industries, having served on
large public company boards and audit committees for many years.
She has a strong background in all aspects of finance and
accounting, as well as experience in M&A, corporate strategy,
cost restructuring programs, corporate governance/compliance, and
investor relations/communications. Among other roles, she has
served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at
Family Dollar Stores Inc., Senior Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer at Giant Eagle, Inc., Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer at Scholastic Corporation, Vice
President and Controller of Visteon Corporation and Vice President,
Global Financial Operations at Pfizer Inc. in the Pharmaceuticals
Group. She started her career as a CPA and auditor at Arthur
Andersen & Co. Ms. Winston is a National Association of
Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Governance Fellow. She currently
serves as President at WinsCo Enterprises Inc., a financial and
board governance consulting firm. She has served on the boards of
Plexus Corp and SuperValu Inc. and is currently a member of the
boards of Acuity Brands, Inc., Domtar Corporation and Dover
Corporation.
Ms. Winston received a Bachelors degree of Accounting from the
University of Wisconsin, an MBA in
Finance, Marketing and International Business from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School,
and is a CPA, as well as a NACD Board Leadership Fellow.
About Andrea Weiss
Ms. Weiss was an early innovator in multi-channel commerce and
brings nearly 30 years of entrepreneurial leadership experience in
the retail industry, currently serving as Founding Partner of The O
Alliance, LLC and Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Retail
Consulting Inc. She is recognized as a pioneer in creating a
seamless customer experience, and has been a key player in
transforming retail into the digital space. She also has extensive
experience developing high-level business strategy and tactical
execution plans, including implementing turnaround initiatives for
leading brands in the U.S. and Europe. She has held executive leadership
roles at dELiA*s, Inc., The Limited Inc., GUESS, Inc., Ann Taylor Stores, Inc. and The Walt Disney
Company. Ms. Weiss is a National Association of Corporate Directors
(NACD) Board Governance Fellow and was named to the NACD Top 100
Best Public Directors in 2016. Ms. Weiss previously served on the
boards of Grupo Cortefiel, where she served as Chairwoman,
GSI Commerce, Pep Boys, Chico's FAS,
Inc. and Nutrisystem, Inc. She currently serves as a director on
the boards of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., O'Reilly Auto
Parts and RPT Realty.
Ms. Weiss received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Masters of
Administrative Science from The Johns Hopkins
University. She also completed post-graduate studies at
Harvard Business School and The Kellogg
School at Northwestern University.
About the Company
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") is
an omnichannel retailer that is the trusted expert for the home and
heartfelt life events. 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 may contain forward-looking statements. 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. 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;
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, 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; uncertainty in
financial markets; volatility in the price of the Company's common
stock and its effect, and the effect of other factors, on the
Company's capital allocation strategy; the impact of goodwill and
intangible asset 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; foreign
currency exchange rate fluctuations; the integration of acquired
businesses and potential continuing uncertainty arising in
connection the announced intention by a shareholder to seek control
of our Board of Directors. The Company does not undertake any
obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
Important Information
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (the "Company") intends to file a
definitive proxy statement and associated proxy card in connection
with the solicitation of proxies for the Company's 2019 Annual
Meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").
Details concerning the nominees of the Company's Board of Directors
for election at the 2019 Annual Meeting will be included in the
Proxy Statement. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, INVESTORS AND
SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC, INCLUDING THE
COMPANY'S DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY SUPPLEMENTS THERETO,
BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and
shareholders will be able to obtain a copy of the definitive proxy
statement and other documents filed by the Company free of charge
from the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. The Company's shareholders
will also be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the
definitive proxy statement and other relevant filed documents by
directing a request by mail to Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. at 650
Liberty Avenue, Union, New Jersey
07083, by contacting the Company's proxy solicitor, D.F. King &
Co., toll-free at 1 (888) 777-0320 or at bbby@dfking.com, or from
the investor relations section of the Company's website at
www.bedbathandbeyond.com.
Participants in the Solicitation
The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers
will be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from
shareholders in respect of the 2019 Annual Meeting. Information
regarding the names of the Company's directors and executive
officers and their respective interests in the Company by security
holdings or otherwise is set forth in the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March
2, 2019, filed with the SEC on April
30, 2019, the Company's Current Reports on Form 8-K filed
with the SEC on June 5, 2018 and
April 22, 2019 (as amended by the
Form 8-K/A filed with the SEC on May 3,
2019) and the Company's definitive proxy statement for the
2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, filed with the SEC on
May 31, 2018. To the extent holdings
of such participants in the Company's securities have changed since
the amounts described in the proxy statement for the 2018 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders, such changes have been reflected on
Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements
of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. These
documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated
above. Additional information regarding the interests of these
participants in any proxy solicitation and a description of their
direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise,
will also be included in any proxy statement and other relevant
materials to be filed with the SEC, if and when they become
available.
CONTACTS:
INVESTOR CONTACT: Janet M. Barth, (908) 613-5820 or
IR@bedbath.com
MEDIA CONTACT: Matthew Sherman /
Tim Lynch / Adam Pollack / Arielle
Rothstein
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer
Katcher, (212) 355-4449
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SOURCE Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.