Fred’s, Inc. Announces Appointment of Neeli Bendapudi to its Board of Directors
28 February 2018 - 9:30AM
Business Wire
Fred’s Inc. (“Fred’s” or “Company”) (NASDAQ:FRED) today
announced that Neeli Bendapudi has been appointed to the Company’s
Board of Directors, effective March 21, 2018. The appointment
follows the retirement of Mary McNabb from the Board after nearly
13 years of service.
Neeli Bendapudi is the Provost, Executive Vice Chancellor and a
Professor of Marketing at the University of Kansas. Prior to that,
she served as the Dean of the KU School of Business from 2011 to
2016. She currently serves on the board of Lancaster Colony
Corporation (NASDAQ: LANC), an approximately $3.3B market cap
diversified manufacturer and marketer of consumer products, and is
a member of their Compensation and Nominating & Governance
Committees. Prior board experience includes Sheetz, Inc., a
family-owned convenient store chain with over 500 stores and over
$6 billion of revenue based in Altoona, PA and Freightquote.com, a
private freight broker which was acquired for $365MM by C.H.
Robinson in 2014.
“We are pleased to welcome Neeli to the Fred’s Board,” said
Heath Freeman, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Neeli’s
expertise in marketing, talent and customer experience will be a
terrific addition and we look forward to immediate
contributions.”
“I am excited to be joining the Fred’s Board of Directors,” said
Dr. Bendapudi. “And I am eager to transfer my diverse experience in
business and academia and begin working with the rest of the Board
and management.”
“We are delighted to welcome Neeli to our Board of Directors,”
said Mike Bloom, Chief Executive Officer. “Neeli’s leadership
skills, business acumen and marketing experience across a variety
of sectors will help position Fred’s for long-term growth and
success.”
Mr. Freeman concluded, “Mary has been a distinguished member of
the Fred’s Board for many years and has provided valuable counsel
and insight. On behalf of the Board and management, I would like to
thank Mary for her service to Fred’s and wish her all the
best.”
About Neeli Bendapudi
Neeli Bendapudi is the University of Kansas Provost and
Executive Vice Chancellor, and a professor of marketing at the KU
School of Business. She holds a doctorate from the University of
Kansas, and she has taught at Texas A&M and The Ohio State
University. Her research, which has focused on customer willingness
and ability to maintain long-term relationships with firms and with
the employers and brands that represent them, has appeared in the
Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of
Retailing and Harvard Business Review, among others.
Dr. Bendapudi has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, Executive
MBA and Ph.D. levels, and has received numerous college, university
and national teaching awards. She has experience on public and
private boards, and served as EVP and Chief Customer Officer of
Huntington National Bank.
About Fred’s Inc.
Tracing its history back to an original store in Coldwater,
Mississippi, opened in 1947, today Fred’s, Inc. operates
approximately 600 general merchandise and pharmacy stores,
including 13 franchised locations, and three specialty
pharmacy-only locations. With unique store formats and strategies
that combine the best elements of a value-focused retailer with a
healthcare-focused drug store, Fred’s stores offer frequently
purchased items that address the everyday needs of its customers.
This includes nationally recognized brands, proprietary Fred’s
label products, and a full range of value-priced selections.
For more information about the Company, visit Fred’s website
at www.fredsinc.com.
Forward Looking Statements
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 (i) the competitive nature of the
industries in which we operate; (ii) the implementation of our
strategic plan, and its impact on our sales, costs and operations;
(iii) utilizing our existing and new stores and increasing our
pharmacy department presence in new and existing stores; (iv) our
reliance on a single supplier of pharmaceutical products; (v) our
pharmaceutical drug pricing; (vi) reimbursement rates and the terms
of our agreements with pharmacy benefit management companies; (vii)
our private brands; (viii) the seasonality of our business and the
impact of adverse weather conditions; (ix) operational
difficulties; (x) merchandise supply and pricing; (xi) consumer
demand and product mix; (xii) delayed openings and operating new
stores and distribution facilities; (xiii) our employees; (xiv)
risks relating to payment processing; (xv) our computer system, and
the processes supported by our information technology
infrastructure; (xvi) our ability to protect the personal
information of our customers and employees; (xvii) cyber-attacks;
(xviii) changes in governmental regulations; (xix) the outcome of
legal proceedings, including claims of product liability; (xx)
insurance costs; (xxi) tax assessments and unclaimed property
audits; (xxii) current economic conditions; (xxiii) changes in
third-party reimbursements; (xxiv) the terms of our existing and
future indebtedness; (xxv) our acquisitions and the ability to
effectively integrate businesses that we acquire; (xxvi) our
ability to pay dividends; 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. The Company 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.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180227006701/en/
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer KatcherEd Trissel / Dan Moore,
212-355-4449
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