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Fred's Inc (FRED) Appoints Michael Bloom as its New CEO

Zacks Equity Research
Updated

Off price retailer, Fred’s Inc. FRED has appointed Michael Bloom as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Bloom will replace Jerry A. Shore, who is set to retire from the company in Feb 2017.

Bloom joined Fred’s in Jan 2015 as President and Chief Operating Officer. Renowned as an “innovative and effective leader,” Bloom has more than 30 years of experience in small-box retail, throughout merchandising, marketing, supply chain and store operations.

FREDS INC Price and EPS Surprise

 

FREDS INC Price and EPS Surprise | FREDS INC Quote

In fact, Bloom has already worked closely with former CEO Jerry Shore on the reconfiguration of front stores of the company. Given his massive experience, Bloom is expected to be able to efficiently steer the company through its transition.

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Fred’s has been undergoing several management changes of late. The company undertook a three-year reconfiguration plan in fiscal 2012 to focus more on higher-margin categories and to move away from the lower-margin consumable segments. The company is remodeling and upgrading its store layout and allocating space to highlight the key revenue-generating categories.

Also, the company announced that Craig Barnes, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain, Global and Domestic Logistics, has been promoted to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer of its Front Store.

Fred’s is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on Aug 30, after the market closes. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is pegged at a loss of 21 cents. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company reported decline in comps over the past few months. The retail sector as a whole has delivered lukewarm results as the brick-and-mortar stores are falling behind in competition with retail giant Amazon.com Inc. AMZN as more and more shoppers are resorting to online shopping. Retailers like The Buckle Inc. BKE and Zumiez Inc. ZUMZ have reported year-over-year decline in comps in the second quarter.

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