Hibbett Sports CEO steps down, replaced by COO

Birmingham, Ala. Hibbett Sports said chairman and CEO Mickey Newsome will give up the CEO's job and be replaced by the sporting goods chain's COO Jeffry O. Rosenthal next Monday.

The Rosenthal is also the company's president. He was VP merchandising and marketing before his current jobs, and held executive jobs with another retailer, Champs Sports, from 1981 to 1998.

Newsome will become executive chairman on Monday, the company said.

Newsome rose through the company, starting as a retail clerk, store manager and regional manager. He was named president in 1981 and became CEO in 1999 and chairman in 2004.

The company operates stores in strip centers and malls in smaller cities in the Southeast, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.