Office Depot Searches for New CEO, Shuffles Execs

Office Depot chief executive officer Roland Smith is planning to retire as the retailer shuffles its leadership to address sluggish sales.Smith will serve until the end of first quarter 2017, when the retailer expects to name a successor. The company’s board of directors hired an executive search firm and is considering internal and external candidates.During an investors call Monday, Smith said he is focused on rolling out the company’s recently announced three-year strategic plan that includes the following personnel changes: Troy Rice, executive vice president, retail, taking on the newly created position of chief operating officer, North America. Executives in the company’s newly consolidated retail, contract, e-commerce and marketing operations now report to Rice.Rob Koch, senior vp, real estate, moving up to the newly created position of evp, business development and tasked with identifying new business opportunities and rolling out the company’s Store of the Future format.Consolidating the roles of ceo and president once a new ceo is named.Rice and Koch will report to Mark Cosby, president, North America, until Smith's retirement at which point they will begin working directly under the new ceo.“My decision to retire has not been an easy one,” Smith said in a news release. “In 2013, I set aside a number of personal ambitions to accept a three-year contract with Office Depot, and it’s now time for me to refocus on those priorities. I am extraordinarily proud of what the Office Depot team has accomplished these past three years, and I am confident that we will successfully execute our new strategy and grow shareholder value.”Smith, who turns 62 in September, told investors during the call that he would like to climb Mt. Everest while he can still physically do so. His upcoming departure is one of several executive moves following Office Depot’s failed merger with Staples in May.Staples also began searching for a new ceo in June when Ron Sargent stepped down after 14 years in the role.

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