Pier 1 Taps Robert Riesbeck as CEO

November 6, 2019  by Laurie Northington in Executive Changes, Industry   

Riesbeck will also continue to serve as CFO. As planned, Cheryl Bachelder, who has served as interim CEO since December 2018, has stepped down from that role, and will continue in her position as a member of Pier 1’s board of directors.

Riesbeck has more than 25 years of leadership experience in retail and consumer goods with expertise in both growth and turnaround situations and has served in CEO, COO and CFO roles. He has served as Pier 1’s CFO since July 2019, and previously was CFO of Fullbeauty Brands as well as an operating executive at private equity firm Sun Capital Partners.

“Bob has stepped into a leadership role at Pier 1 with a sense of urgency and deep capability and we are thrilled to appoint him as CEO,” said Terry London, chairman of the board. “We thank Cheryl for serving Pier 1 as interim CEO over the last 10 months. She has made important progress in developing a clear plan and roadmap for success, including assembling a strong team to guide the company into the future. We are pleased that she will continue to play an active role as a member of the board.”

“Bob has quickly established himself as the right leader to successfully take the company forward,” said Bachelder. “While we recognize there is still much work to do, Bob has been instrumental in helping the leadership team advance our plan to reset and reimagine the future of this iconic brand and he has put in place a highly capable finance team to steward the company’s resources.”

Riesbeck added, “I welcome the opportunity to take on this expanded role and lead one of the best brands in the home sector forward, continuing the progress that Cheryl set in motion with our fiscal 2020 action plan. I am excited to be working alongside a highly capable management team and passionate associates to delight our customers and drive the execution of Pier 1’s turnaround plan through fiscal 2020 and beyond.”

Pier 1 also announced the appointment of Donna Colaco as president of Pier 1. Colaco has served as EVP and chief customer officer since December 2018. She will continue to be responsible for merchandising, planning and allocation, marketing, e-Commerce and promotion.

Bachelder added, “We are pleased to promote Donna to serve as president, in recognition of the tremendous impact she has had on Pier 1 style stories and helping to re-engage the Pier 1 customer with our merchandise. I look forward to her leadership in driving a sales turnaround with compelling merchandise and marketing that bring our loyal customers to our stores and online.”

Douglas Diemoz, who had served as president, has departed from the company. Bachelder stated, “On behalf of Pier 1, I thank Doug for his contributions and wish him well in his future endeavors.”