Doody And Goodman In New Reinvention Roles At Staples

January 30, 2014

Two of Staples' senior most executives were given new responsibilities to bolster the company's re-invention efforts and competitive posture in a market that has become more challenging with the addition of a newly merged Office Depot and Office Max.

Staples elevated Joe Doody to the role of vice chairman from his prior position as president of the company's North American commercial division.  Filling Doody's role is Staples executive Shira Goodman who previously served as EVP of global growth.  Both will continue to report to long time Staples chairman and CEO Ron Sargent.

"Joe (Doody) has done a tremendous job leading our commercial businesses through a time of enormous change and growth.  His proven success and deep experience will be crucial to our reinvention as we continue to expand into new categories and build on our e-commerce and delivery capabilities to provide every product businesses need to succeed," Sargent said.  "Shira (Goodman) is an outstanding leader with unmatched experience across our company.  Her experience with our reinvention will be a huge asset as we continue to drive growth in our North American Commercial business by expanding into new categories, such as facilities and breakroom, technology, print, furniture and promotional products."

In his new role, Doody will lead Staples' strategic reinvention with responsibility for strategic planning and business development as well as the company's operations in Australia, New Zealand and high-growth markets.  Doody joined Staples in 1998 as president of what was known at the time as Staples Contract and Commercial.  He held that role until 2002 when he was named president of Staples North American Delivery.  He was named president of North American Commercial in 2013.

Goodman joined Staples in 1992 and prior to her recent role as EVP of global growth she served as EVP of human resources and EVP of marketing from 2001 to 2009.  Prior to 2001, Goodman served as SVP of StaplesDirect.com, the company's e-commerce and catalog operation.

The appointment of Doody and Goodman to new roles follows several other significant developments at Staples which are part of the company's reinvention efforts.  In early January, Staples unveiled a new branding campaign with the tagline, "make more happen," which replaced its long-running, "that was easy," tagline.  The company also made a subtle change to its logo.

The new campaign is designed to showcase Staples' expanded assortment, thus the "make more happen," positioning, whereas with "that was easy," the emphasisi tended to be on how Staples simplified customers lives.

"We're adding thousands of new products every day.  Our expanded product assortment appeals to businesses across a wide range of industries, from medical and restaurants to professional services and retail," Goodman said when the campaign launched.

Other recent reinvention moves are focused on the company's intellectual capacity.  For example, last fall Staples named Tom Conophy as its Chief information officer to oversee all aspects of the company's global IT organization.

"Tom (Conophy) is a creative and innovative leader, and his skills complement the talents of our IT leadership team as we build the systems and processes to support our strategic reinvention," CEO Sargent said at the time.

One of the biggest commitments the company made to stay on the leading edge of technology related to the creation last September of a new e-commerce development center in Seattle.  The move was designed to help the company attract top talent in the areas of engineering, product management, usability, analytics and online merchandising.

Staples is changing the way customers shop online," said Faisal Masud, Staples EVP of global e-commerce.  "Seattle is an innovation hub rivaling Silicon Valley and features some of the world's biggest technology companies.  Staples new Development Center will allow us to tap into the wide range of talented engineering and e-commerce professionals on the West Coast."

Source: Retailing Today