FORT WORTH, Texas (AFX) - The chairman and chief executive of Pier 1 Imports Inc., Marvin Girouard, will retire from the struggling home-furnishing retailer and its board early next year, the company announced Saturday.
Girouard has been at Pier 1 for 32 years, the last seven in his current positions. He will retire Feb. 28.
'I feel that it is time for me to leave in the course of a normal retirement and allow new leadership to emerge and flourish,' he said in a statement.
His departure comes as Pier 1 tries to emerge from a three-year slump that included net losses in five straight quarters and continuous declines in same-store sales -- a widely used gauge in retail performance.
Herbert Mines Associates, a New York-based firm, will lead the search for a new CEO, according to a statement on the Pier 1 Web site.
Pier 1 this month reported that its second-quarter loss widened to $73.1 million, or 84 cents per share, from a loss of $10.2 million, or 12 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
In recent years the company has been squeezed between big-box retailers offering multiethnic merchandise, long found in Pier 1 stores, and high-end stores. Once recognized as a niche retailer for its imported goods, Pier 1 lost that identity as it idly watched other retailers stock their own imported selections, analysts say.
Shares of Pier 1 closed down 19 cents Friday to $7.42 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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