Brookstone hires former HD exec as president and CEO

Specialty retailer Brookstone has hired Stephen Bebis as its new president and CEO, effective immediately.



Prior to joining Brookstone, Bebis spent 14 years as founder, president and CEO of Golf Town, the largest specialty golf retailer in Canada. Starting the business from scratch, Bebis grew Golf Town to 57 locations across Canada and led the expansion of the company into the Boston market last year with seven stores.



Bebis began his retailing career with Sears in store sales and management, and later moved into merchandising roles in 1976 with Grossman's, a chain of 60 lumberyards in the Northeast that broke apart in 1996. Bebis joined Home Depot in 1984, where he grew revenues through the introduction of new merchandise categories.



After serving as the VP, general merchandise manager for Home Depot’s mid-southern division, Bebis in 1991 led the start-up of Aikenhead's Home Improvement Warehouse in Toronto, Canada. As president and CEO, Bebis grew the company to 12 stores with 10 planned before selling Aikenhead's in 1994 to Home Depot. After two years as president and CEO of Home Depot Canada, Bebis joined Jumbo Sports (formerly Sports and Recreation) in 1996 as president and CEO before launching Golf Town in 1998.