Greg Hawkins has resigned as chairman and CEO of Buy.com, and Mitch Hill has resigned as CFO of the beleaguered e-tailer.
James Roszak has been named interim CEO and the search for a new CEO is under way, according to the company. Roszak has been a Buy.com board member since August 1998 and is a former president of the life insurance division of Transamerica.
Donald Kendall, a board member and former CEO of Pepsi, has been named chairman. In addition, Robert Price has been hired as CFO, from his previous position at PairGain Technologies.
Hawkins joined Buy.com from Ingram Micro, where he was senior vice president of sales. He led Buy.com through its IPO, but the company's stock has plummeted in the last year. Its 52-week high was $22.38 per share. Its 52-week low was 38 cents per share. The company's stock closed at 56 cents per share Monday.
"While Greg and Mitch played an integral role in the development of the company over the past couple of years and we are grateful to them for their contribution, I believe we will significantly benefit from Robert's extensive expertise and enthusiastic commitment to Buy.com's success," Roszak said in a statement.
The management change will help Buy.com reach its goal of profitability, Roszak said.
"The realities of the marketplace demand that we drive vigorously toward profitability. We've proven our ability to attract customers and sell product--now we need to prove that we can make money," he said.
For the fourth quarter, Buy.com reported a loss of $27.4 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with a loss of $40.9 million, or 44 cents per share, for the year-ago quarter. Analysts had predicted a loss of 19 cents per share.
Revenue in the fourth quarter dropped to $196.7 million from $200.7 million a year ago. Analysts had expected about $220 million in revenue.
Earlier this month, Buy.com laid off 25 associates, about 10 percent of its workforce, and agreed to sell its United Kingdom operations and discontinue operations in Australia and Canada.
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