Dive Brief:
- RadioShack on Tuesday named Dene Rogers its new president and CEO, effective May 9. Rogers also will join RadioShack’s board of directors.
- Rogers previously served as CEO of Target Australia following a five-year stint as CEO of Sears Canada. He replaces Ron Garriques, who stepped down as CEO in early 2016 after just nine months on the job “to pursue other interests.”
- RadioShack said Rogers will focus on developing its omnichannel platform. “We will re-invent RadioShack's business model to create a dynamic growth company," Rogers said in a press release announcing his appointment.
Dive Insight:
A little over a year after a bankruptcy judge approved the $160 million sale of 1,740-plus RadioShack stores to hedge fund Standard General, the embattled electronics retailer continues its efforts to regain relevancy in an increasingly omnichannel retail environment.
In the time since RadioShack exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company has attempted to repair its unhip image and attract younger consumers by launching a social media marketing campaign featuring comedians Orlando Jones and Carlos Mencia, and introduced the Ncredible 1 headphones line in partnership with actor Nick Cannon, who is RadioShack’s chief creative officer. Wireless carrier Sprint also established branded stores-within-stores inside RadioShack locations, with RadioShack collecting commissions on Sprint products and services.
Rogers said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that he accepted the job because of the progress that RadioShack has made in the last nine months, pointing to fixed costs that are better aligned with the company’s size as well as improved inventory management.
“I think there’s opportunity for RadioShack to re-establish itself as a product leader and place to get technology expertise,” Rogers said. “We’re talking about product categories that will connect RadioShack with its past, but with a new relevance.”
In a press release announcing the hire, RadioShack Chairman Robert Lavan touted Rogers’ “impressive vision for how to expand the business into other segments of the market across a variety of platforms," citing his success in building out Sears Canada’s online commerce efforts as proof of his ability to developing a thriving omnichannel presence.
The challenge is that many retailers are struggling to master omnichannel, including companies in far less precarious positions than RadioShack. A majority of retailers admit they are still struggling to deliver omnichannel experiences to consumers, due in large part to the absence of quality customer data insights, according to a survey released last week by Periscope, a unit of management consultancy McKinsey Solutions.
