Debra Singh stepped down as MD of struggling Dick Smith
Singh’s departure is timed to coincide with the planned divestment of Dick Smith, announced earlier this year, reports AFR.
Singh was hired in 2008 to turn around the Woolworths-owned electronics retailer but her efforts weren’t enough to save the chain which has been hit by consumer electronics deflation and weak consumer spending.
The announcement was made in an internal memo to staff.
A Private Equity Group as well as an overseas buyer are believed to be among the final bidders for the retail chain and Woolies executives say they are confident they will announce a buyer early in August.
Woolies CEO Grant O’Brien said Singh was to be “commended on her leadership of the Dick Smith business and most recently throughout the divestment process”.
Last week, Dick Smith announced a 2.1% increase y-o-y and 10.4% in Q4 of FY 2012 thanks to the of Ad campaigns such as ‘Dick Does’ and ‘Cheapest Ever’.
Overall, 52 Dick Smith stores were closed during the year as part of the divesting strategy, with plans to close 100 in all.
There’s currently 286 Dick Smith branded stores open in Australia and 62 in NZ.
Woolworths did not reply to requests for comment at the time of writing.