Shawn Score, the president of U.S. retail stores at Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) is retiring from his position after nearly three decades of service in the company.
He is leaving after seven months of being promoted as president of the unit in October last year. Prior to leading the U.S. retail unit of Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY), Score served as president of Best Buy Mobile and a member of Best Buy Children’s Foundation.
Permanent replacement
Score will be succeeded by Shari Ballard, the head of human resources of Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) and has been working for the company for 21 years. Shari will also continue his role at the human resources unit of the retailer.
Ballard became chief of the human resources in August after supervising the internal unit of the company, which is composed of 450 stores. She previously served as executive vice president of retail channel management, president of Americas and executive vice president for Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) businesses in the United States and Mexico.
Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) confirmed Score’s retirement and stated that Ballard will permanently take over his role in the company.
Turnaround efforts
Score decided to leave the company as CEO Hubert Joly continues to implement strategies to turnaround Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) particularly its “Renew Blue’ program. Joly joined the retailer two years ago.
Joly overhauled the merchandize and store layout of the retailer to strengthen its competitiveness against rivals such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). He also intensified the training for employees and introduced shops-within-shops by dedicating store space for leading brands such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) .
He also managed to reduce the costs of Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) by $765 million last year, and eliminated 2,000 store managers in February. Joly previously stated that the restructuring initiatives of the company are more focused on removing its inefficiencies than reducing its workforce.
Best Buy previous quarter performance
The board of directors of Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) approved the distribution of a regular quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share last February. The company also reported $0.88 GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations and $14.47 billion revenue in the fourth quarter last year.
