The Container Store CEO to retire; Sephora veteran to take reins

The Container Store is getting a new chief executive.

The organization and storage products retailer announced that longtime Sephora executive Satish Malhotra will succeed Melissa Reiff as CEO, effective Feb. 1. Reiff will retire from the Container Store on March 1, but will remain chairwoman until the annual shareholders meeting in the summer. 

Malhotra most recently served as the chief retail and operating officer for Sephora. He was one of the first executives to join Sephora in its debut to the U.S. retail landscape and, in his 21 years with the company has held various leadership roles.

Prior to his current role. Malhotra served as COO for Sephora and was responsible for technology, supply chain, store development, legal, strategy and partnerships, including the Sephora inside J.C. Penney business which now operates over 600 stores. He also spent several years overseeing Sephora’s expansion into Canada and Latin America. 

In a statement, outgoing CEO Reiff noted that “the board and I have spent months preparing for my planned retirement” and that Malhotra’s appointment followed a “thorough and exhaustive search.”

“Satish is a seasoned retail executive, with decades of diverse and valuable experience, who I believe will be a great fit for our organization,” Reiff said. “The timing of this leadership transition could not be better, with our company enjoying the success of the multi-year sales and profit revitalization efforts that have driven, and are expected to continue to drive our performance.”

In related news, The Container Store provided upbeat preview of third-quarter earnings. The company said the quarter is "tracking well ahead of expectations” and that it expects a sales increase in the high teens.