On April 22, 2019, Bed Bath & Beyond announced the transformation of its board of directors in response to pressure from a group of shareholders. The board will consist of 10 directors, rather than 12, with nine being independent and six being women, according to a company press release. Five current independent directors will step down. The company also announced Co-Founders Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein will retire from the board and transition into the role of co-founder, co-chairmen emeriti. Patrick Gaston, who was the lead independent director, has assumed the role of independent chairman effective immediately. In addition, the board will create a Business Transformation and Strategy Review Committee In March, an activist group including Legion Partners Holdings, Macellum Advisors GP and Ancora Advisors nominated 16 independent candidates to overturn the company's current 12-person board, and called for the ouster of CEO Steven Temares.
On April 22, 2019, Under Armour announced that Jason LaRose, the president of its North America division, will be leaving the company April 30. LaRose has been in the position since October 2016, according to an SEC filing from the company. The athletics retailer is on the hunt for a replacement, but in the interim, President and COO Patrik Frisk will take on the role, the company said. The announcement comes just a couple weeks before the retailer is scheduled to report earnings on May 2, where North America has been a focus point as of late. LaRose has been with Under Armour since 2013, and previously held positions at Express and Sears Holdings. He was also a member of the board of directors for Shop.org for two years, according to his LinkedIn.
On April 18, 2019, it was reported, Diesel USA received approval of its Chapter 11 plan by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, according to court documents filed April 12. All terms of the commitment have been agreed to including the release and payment of a little over $26 million to fund the plan, with $10 million in additional funding earmarked for the reorganization.
On April 15, 2019, Best Buy Co. announced that Chief Financial and Strategic Transformation Officer Corie Barry is on deck to succeed Hubert Joly, effective June 11, the date of the company's shareholder meeting. She will also then join the board, which will expand to 13 directors, according to a company press release emailed to Retail Dive. The company said it will conduct an internal and external search for a new CFO. Joly, who also serves as Best Buy's chairman, will transition to a newly created position of executive chairman of the board, the company said. In that role, he "will continue to lead the board of directors while advising and supporting the CEO on key matters, such as strategy, capability building, M&A and external relationships," according to the release. Barry joined Best Buy in 1999 and has held a variety of financial and operational roles there, including chief strategic growth officer, senior vice president of domestic finance and interim leader of the retailer's services organization. She was named CFO in 2016.
