Fred’s names new executive VP, chief merchandising and marketing officer

Fred’s on Tuesday announced its new executive VP and chief merchandising and marketing officer, Mary Lou Gardner. Gardner will be replacing Bryan Pugh, who has resigned from the company, effective immediately.



“Mary Lou brings a wealth of leadership experience to the merchandising, marketing, pricing and planning area,” Fred’s CEO Jerry Shore said. “She joined Fred's at the beginning of 2016 as senior vice president/strategy/project management. In this short time span, she has become an instrumental part of the Fred's team.”



Before joining the Fred’s team, Gardner was with CVS Health, where she served in various roles, including divisional merchandising manager for beauty and personal care, senior director of inventory management, and senior director of merchandising for general merchandise and consumable, among several others. Before CVS, Gardner worked in various business roles, from sourcing to strategy and organizational development across such industries as health care, banking and higher education.



“She excels in the ability to lead and rally a team around a common purpose, which explains her many diverse roles at CVS, where she was called on several times to lead key strategic initiatives,” Fred’s president and COO Michael Bloom said. “We welcome her increasing contribution to our team’s efforts to build on our strategic investments in the future of Fred’s.”