WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Office Depot Inc. (ODP) announced that Roland Smith plans to retire as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Smith will continue to serve as CEO until a successor is named, which is expected by the end of first quarter 2017. It is expected Smith will remain Chairman of the Board.
The company noted that its board will evaluate, with the assistance of an executive search firm, both internal and external candidates for CEO.
Office Depot also announced that it is reorganizing its Executive Committee to better align with the three-year strategic plan unveiled by the company earlier this month. As part of that plan, Office Depot is consolidating its retail, contract, ecommerce and marketing operations to better serve customers in today's omni-channel marketplace. These functions will now report to Troy Rice, who has been named to the newly-created position of Chief Operating Officer, North America. Rice currently serves as Office Depot's Executive Vice President, Retail.
The company has also named Rob Koch to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President, Business Development, where he will be responsible for identifying and commercializing new business opportunities. In this role, Koch will have substantial responsibility for rolling out Office Depot's store of the future and the expansion of adjacency opportunities, including Jan-San.
Koch is currently Senior Vice President, Real Estate, and will continue to oversee the company's real estate portfolio, including leading Phase II of the retail optimization plan.
Rice and Koch will report to Mark Cosby, President, North America, until a new CEO is named, at which time the President and CEO roles will be consolidated and they will report directly to the CEO and serve on the company's Executive Committee.
Additionally, Steve Calkins, Executive Vice President, Contract, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Calkins replaces Elisa Garcia, who recently left the company. Calkins will report to the CEO and serve on the company's Executive Committee.
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