Hhgregg names interim CEO; vows to continue transformation

Hhgregg CFO Robert Riesbeck is acting as interim CEO at the appliance, electronics and furniture retailer following the abrupt departure of longtime executive Dennis May.



May spent 17 years with the company and his departure follows what was a very challenging holiday season for the operator of 226 stores focused on appliances, electronics and furniture. Hhgregg’s sales declined 10.9% to $593 million and same-store sales declined 10.8% during the company’s third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015. The company came up short of profit targets during the period with competitive pressures cited as the source of weakness.



Filling May’s role as CEO and president on an interim basis is CFO Robert Riesbeck. He joined the company in 2014 after serving as operations executive and group CFO at the private equity firm of Sun Capital Partners. Prior to Sun, Riesbeck was CFO of Marsh Supermarkets, CFO of CFO of American Golf Corporation and also previously held business-unit COO and CFO roles at Nike, Inc.



"The Hgregg team and I will be extremely focused on continuing with the execution of our transformation initiatives. I want to assure our employees, customers, vendors and shareholders that we will work together to achieve our company's growth and profitability goals," Riesbeck said.



The company did not indicate when or if it would commence a search for a successor to May whose departure from the company was effective immediately on Feb. 17. May had served as CEO since August 2009, as president and COO since January 2003 and executive VP and COO since he joined the company in 1999. May became a board member in February 2005.



May joined Hhgregg in connection with the company’s acquisition of store leases of Sun TV & Appliance, Inc. where he served as VP of marketing, executive VP and CEO.