The Wall Street Journal-20080215-Sharper Image New CEO Is Turnaround Specialist
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Sharper Image New CEO Is Turnaround Specialist
Full Text (267 words)Sharper Image Corp. hired turnaround specialist Robert Conway to succeed Chief Executive Steven Lightman, hinting it may restructure.
Mr. Lightman, a direct-marketing veteran, held the job less than a year. Sharper Image gave no reason for Mr. Lightman's departure. Reached by phone, Mr. Lightman, 51 years old, said he wasn't in a "position or mood" to comment at this time.
The San Francisco-based specialty retailer, known for an eclectic mix of electronic gadgets, also retained a team of specialists from Mr. Conway's financial-advisory firm, Conway Del Genio Gries & Co., "to assist Mr. Conway in addressing business improvements and help implement necessary operational changes." The company said turnaround specialist Jerry Levin will remain chairman. Mr. Levin had temporarily stepped in as chief executive after the company ousted founder Richard Thalheimer in September 2006. Mr. Lightman later succeeded him as CEO.
Sharper Image revamped its board in 2006 in an effort to placate Knightspoint Group, investors unhappy with the chain's performance.
The company has been beset by red ink, weak sales and a depressed share price. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, have fallen for 40 straight months, with an 11% drop in January, missing Wall Street expectations.
Conway Del Genio is a financial advisory firm "providing restructuring, crisis and turnaround management, and merger and acquisition services," according to its Web site. The firm is often hired to help advise companies in bankruptcy-law protection.
Before co-founding the turnaround firm in 1998, Mr. Conway worked in the restructuring and reorganization division of Ernst & Young LLC after spending 15 years in the banking industry.
