Pier 1 Hires Operations Specialist

August 6, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2007 Struggling Pier 1 Imports, Fort Worth, Texas, has hired Sharon Leite—a store operations executive with 21 years of experience—as executive vice president, store operations. Leite previously served as vice president of sales and associate marketing for Columbus, Ohio-based Bath & Body Works, which operates more than 1,600 locations.

Leite joined Bath & Body Works eight years ago as director of store operations and rose to vice president of sales operations before gaining responsibility for the sales strategies of all store formats and multi-channel operations. She has also held various operations posts at retailers such as Gap Inc., Disney and Limited Stores.

Pier 1 President and CEO Alex Smith said, “Sharon’s extensive experience has prepared her for this vital role of leading our store organization to the level of execution we need for Pier 1 Imports to return to profitability and beyond.”

In June, Pier 1 announced a net loss from continuing operations of $56.3 million during its first quarter as same-store sales declined by 5.4 percent. The company’s announcement Tuesday did not disclose whether Leite was filling a newly created post or replacing someone.