MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fred's, Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) today announced the promotion of Craig Barnes to General Merchandising Manager.
Craig began his retail career at Auto Zone, spending 24 years in various roles leading up to his position as Vice President of Merchandising, Global Sourcing and Quality. He was recruited by CARQUEST in 2009 as the Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Pricing, Global Sourcing, Marketing, and Inventory. Rounding out his experience, Craig then accepted a position as Vice President Global Independent Aftermarket and OE Services with Delphi Products & Service Solutions. He was responsible for development capability, setting product, and customer pursuit strategy along with overseeing Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, The Middle East and Africa, and North America (EMEA).
Commenting on the announcement, Jerry A. Shore, Chief Executive Officer, said, "I am pleased to announce the promotion of Craig Barnes. Craig brings extensive experience across 30 years of merchandising, most of which has been spent in small-box retailing. He has demonstrated his leadership by quickly building a sourcing team that is now in place and will make a significant impact in 2015. Craig now assumes the role of General Merchandise Manager and provides a fresh perspective in strengthening the merchandising function in order to build momentum in our business, deliver profitable sales growth and improve return on investment to our shareholders in the future."
Currently, Fred's operates 703 discount general merchandise stores, including 21 franchised Fred's stores, in the southeastern United States. For more information about the Company, visit Fred's website at www.fredsinc.com.
Comments in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. A reader can identify forward-looking statements because they are not limited to historical facts or they use such words as "outlook," guidance," "may," "should," "could," "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "expect," "estimate," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "committed," "continue," or "will likely result" and similar expressions that concern the Company's strategy, plans, intentions or beliefs about future occurrences or results. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those associated with the Company's announced strategic plan, the ultimate terms of the reworked pharmacy distribution agreement, lease buyouts and the underlying assumptions and projections upon which they are based, as well as risks that intended results may not be achieved or may not occur as quickly as expected; general economic trends; changes in consumer demand or purchase patterns; delays or interruptions in the flow of merchandise between the Company's distribution centers and its stores or between the Company's suppliers and same; a disruption in the Company's data processing services; costs and delays in acquiring or developing new store sites; and the factors listed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly filings on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Fred's undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unforeseen events, except as required to be reported under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
