Dive Brief:

• Struggling electronics and appliance retailer Hhgregg has made Robert Riesbeck its permanent CEO, a role he has served as interim since February, when previous CEO Dennis May left abruptly after a failed expansion of the retailer’s brick and mortar store fleet.

• Riesbeck will relinquish his CFO duties once a replacement is found for that role, the company said.

• Hhgregg has 226 stores in 20 states, compared to competitor Best Buy’s more than 1,400 U.S. stores. The retailer has struggled with sales falling 9.6% last quarter, its 10th straight quarter of losses.

Dive Insight:

Since he took the interim reins Riesbeck has shaken up senior management, expanded free delivery, boosted the company’s digital efforts, and streamlined logistics and supply chain, Twice reports. 

"Over the past six months, we have made progress toward our top company goal of driving sales growth through our focus on appliances, furniture and large, premium television,” Riesbeck said in a statement. “The team we put in place over the last 12 months will continue to build on this momentum to achieve our company's growth and profitability goals and drive the long-term shareholder value of hhgregg."

Home electronics has been a tough space, not only because a few high-priced categories like smartphones have now become saturated, but also because many have also morphed into commodities—items that can be found at several retailers, forcing those retailers to compete on price.

A stark indication of that is the recent news that Amazon accounted for a whopping 90% of the $5.6 billion growth in consumer electronics sales posted nationwide in 2015, according to a June note from Deutsche Bank analysts. 

The retailer will also have to deal with rising competition in the appliance space as department store retailers J.C. Penney and Sears ramp up their offerings.

Through the fall, J.C. Penney will introduce major appliances to new stores every week until nearly half of its 1,000 locations offer kitchen and laundry appliances from Samsung, LG, GE Appliances and Hotpoint. Sears will also “aggressively evaluate all of the potential alternatives available to” its Kenmore appliances, Craftsman and DieHard and Sears Home Services businesses, a move that many observers have suggested for years.