Leadership at Pier 1 Imports is changing again. Robert Riesbeck has been named chief executive officer of Pier 1 and will continue as chief financial officer.
As of Monday he has succeeded Cheryl Bachelder, who had been interim CEO at Pier 1 since December 2018 when the board fired its previous CEO.
Riesbeck joined Pier 1 in July. His background includes top positions at FullBeauty Brands, electronics retailer H.H. Gregg and a private equity firm that's been active for many years in retailing, Sun Capital Partners.
"I welcome the opportunity to take on this expanded role and lead one of the best brands in the home sector forward, continuing the progress that Cheryl set in motion," Riesbeck said.
Bachelder will remain at Pier 1 as a board member, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement Monday after the market closed. Bachelder came into the top job at Pier 1 with a successful turnaround on her resume. She's credited with getting Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen into shape and sold for $1.8 billion to Burger King's parent company Restaurant Brands.
Pier 1, which operates 950 stores in the U.S. and Canada, also said Monday that the New York Stock Exchange has accepted the retailer's plan to regain compliance with NYSE continued listing standards. Pier 1 received a letter on Aug. 5 saying that the company's market value had fallen below $50 million over a 30-day trading period.
Pier 1 has 18 months to get its stock price up enough to avoid delisting. Pier 1's stock price gained 51 cents, or 8%, to close at $6.86 a share on Monday. That gives it a market cap of $29.33 million.
The board also promoted Donna Colaco to president of Pier 1 from executive vice president and chief customer officer. Colaco joined Pier 1 last December from White House Black Market, where she was brand president.
She succeeds Douglas Diemoz, who was president for a short time and has left the company, Pier 1 said.
