Former 7-Eleven ceo to head Blockbuster

DALLAS Blockbuster today announced the appointment of James Keyes as the company's new chairman and ceo effective today. Keyes is the former president and ceo of 7-Eleven and a 21-year veteran of the world's largest chain of convenience stores. He replaces current chairman and ceo John Antioco.

As president and ceo of 7-Eleven, Keyes lead the company's record sales and profit growth, and helped introduce new technologies and products into the company's stores. When Keyes retired upon the sale of the company in 2005, 7-Eleven had produced 36 consecutive quarters of same-store sales increases and had some 6,000 franchised and company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada with 30,000 stores worldwide.

"Jim is results-oriented, strategic and able to identify practical, yet highly creative solutions to complicated business problems. Most importantly, he has a strong multi-unit retailing background and an impressive record of introducing new customer-focused technologies into a business that have driven financial results," said Carl Icahn, a member of the Blockbuster board of directors. "With his extensive background in finance, operations and marketing, and as a former ceo of a Fortune 500 company, he is exactly the right person to become the next leader of Blockbuster. The rest of the board and I are extremely pleased to welcome Jim to the company."