Hhgregg Names Riesbeck Permanent CEO

Home-electronics and appliance retailer Hhgregg Inc. removed the interim tag from sitting Chief Executive Officer Robert Riesbeck, who has served in the position since the resignation of his predecessor in February.

In becoming the permanent head of the company, Mr. Riesbeck will relinquish his role as chief financial officer pending the appointment of a replacement. A timetable for that search hasn't been given.

Before joining Hhgregg in 2014, Mr. Riesbeck was an operations executive and group CFO at Sun Capital Partners. Mr. Riesbeck's appointment doesn't come as a surprise. When he was installed as interim CEO, company officials said a search for a permanent head wouldn't be launched.

Mr. Riesbeck's predecessor, Dennis May, resigned suddenly in February, effective the day of the announcement, by mutual agreement with the board of directors.

Mr. May outlined an aggressive but ultimately failed expansion push in 2010 after rival Circuit City Stores folded, leaving several storefront properties available with cut-rate rents. The plan would have turned Hhgregg into a nationwide chain with as many as 600 stores by the end of the decade.

The growth strategy stalled as retail sector continued to struggle despite a generally improving economy. Electronics stores suffered especially strong competition from online rivals undercutting their prices. Hhgregg ended last year with 227 stores in 20 states, dwarfed by competitor Best Buy Co. which has more than 1,400 U.S. stores.

In 2014, the Indianapolis company said it was embarking on a transformation that included new advertising strategies and a shift from its consumer-electronics focus.

Hhgregg has posted poor results recently as it struggles with falling sales partly because of plunging television prices and overall declines in the video category. Sales fell 9.6% last quarter.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2016 15:25 ET (19:25 GMT)

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