Struggling electronic retailer RadioShack said Wednesday James F. Gooch, its chief executive officer, will step down from his role, effective immediately.
The retailer said the decision was made by mutual consent with the company’s board of directors. The board will now begin searching for Gooch’s successor, and Dorvin Lively, RadioShack’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will assume the role of acting CEO.
“We thank Jim for his service to the Company and wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Daniel R. Feehan, non-executive chairman of the board for RadioShack, in a statement.
RadioShack is working to turn around its results as electronics buyers increasingly turn to the Internet to make their purchases instead of shopping at brick-and-mortar retailers.
In July, RadioShack reported a net loss for its second quarter and suspended its dividend.
On Tuesday, Staples, the number-one U.S. office supply retailer, announced a major restructuring as it faces fierce competition from online retailers.
Staples said it plans to shut 30 stores in North America, downscale 30 more and take a pretax charge of up to $1.1 billion during its fiscal 2012 year. The retailer said the shake-up is designed to better serve the needs of customers and accelerate growth.
More broadly, Staples said it plans to integrate its retail and online offerings, spend more on its online businesses, reorganize its operations, implement leadership changes, initiate a multi-year cost savings plan and restructure its international operations.
RadioShack's shares have tumbled 83 percent since Gooch took up the CEO role in May 2011.
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities said one problem facing RadioShack is its name, which conjures up images from another era.
“Radio is a concept from a hundred years ago, and a shack is a place that essentially homeless people lie in,” he said.
RadioShack also faces a demographic challenge, he said.
“(Older customers) are not being replaced by 30-year-olds,” said Pachter, who has an underperform rating on the stock.
Finding a new CEO may not be easy, Alan Rifkin of Barclays Capital wrote in a note, saying the new leader would need “unique strategic vision” to fix all of the retailer's problems.
“Furthermore, the duration of the search is uncertain, thus leaving RadioShack in a state of transition,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
