Pier 1 CEO Steps Down

After several quarters of slumping sales, Pier 1 announced that its long-time CEO will be stepping down.

CEO Alex W. Smith, who has led the home furnishings retailer for about 10 years, will step down as president, CEO and a member of the company’s board as of Dec. 31, 2016.

In a statement announcing the news, Pier 1 said it would exercise its “existing succession planning process” and work with the executive search firm Korn Ferry to find a new CEO.

“We greatly appreciate Alex’s many years of leadership and considerable contributions to Pier 1 Imports. Most notably, he led a remarkable turnaround of the business from 2009 to 2013, creating one of the most profitable specialty stores in our sector,” Terry London, chairman of Pier 1 Imports, said in a statement. “Subsequently, Alex spearheaded the transformation of Pier 1 Imports from a pure brick-and-mortar business to establish the competitive omnichannel platform we have in place today. The company is now well-positioned with the infrastructure, capabilities and brand equity to effectively compete in the changing retail environment. On behalf of the board of directors, we all wish Alex the best going forward.”

Although Pier 1 is trying to spin this development as a “mutual parting of ways,” it’s clear the retailer’s poor performance of late has helped influence it. Pier 1 announced on Wednesday (Sept. 7) that sales were off by about 6.7 percent compared to last year in a preliminary third quarter earnings report and that same-store sales were down by 4.3 percent.

Pier 1’s stock closed at $4.08 a share on Thursday, a drop of 15 percent.