Troubled Internet etailer Buy.com Tuesday reshuffled its management
following the resignations of Gregory Hawkins, chairman and CEO, and Mitch
Hill, CFO.
James B. Roszak, who has served as a member of the board of directors
since August 1998, will step in as the interim CEO. He will be assisted by
Donald Kendall, a board member as well as the emeritus chairman and retired
CEO of PepsiCo Inc., who was appointed as the new chairman of the board.
Robert Price has been hired as CFO.
The realignment of management will present the company with new
opportunities, Roszak noted. “While Greg and Mitch played an integral role
in the development of the company over the past couple of years and we are
grateful to them for their contribution, I believe we will significantly
benefit from Robert’s extensive expertise and enthusiastic commitment to
Buy.com’s success.”
The next step for the company is to show capital gains, he added. “The
realities of the marketplace demand that we drive vigorously toward
profitability,” he said. “We’ve proven our ability to attract customers and
sell product, now we need to prove that we can make money.”
The etailer has not had an easy time of it. Two weeks ago it reported
fourth-quarter losses and drastically cut its sales target for 2001. At that
time, the Internet retailer was additionally in the midst of closing its
Canadian division and selling its British operation.
The company’s stock price opened this morning at
19/32 and, at press time, was trading at 21/32, up by 3/32.
Buy.com sells a comprehensive selection of brand name products in a broad
range of categories including computer hardware and software, electronics,
wireless products and services, books, music, DVDs, games, sporting goods,
clearance products and a small business superstore.
