At Home CEO Lee Bird will step down effective Dec. 31, the company announced Wednesday.
Bird, 58, has been with the company for 11 years, transforming it from a fading Houston-based brand called Garden Ridge into a fast-growing home-superstore concept. He moved the headquarters to Plano and changed the brand name to At Home. The company moved to its new headquarters in Dallas a year ago.
The departure came as a surprise, as most had expected Bird to one day lead the company out of private equity ownership and into an initial public offering. At Home was taken private in July 2021 in a $2.8 billion deal after a proxy fight led by Hellman & Friedman.
At the time, Bird said At Home could more than double its store count to more than 600 locations, and that he could do it faster as a private company.
The company said in a statement that the CEO search is ongoing.
Meanwhile, an Office of the CEO has been formed to run the business with President and Chief Merchandising Officer Jeff Evans, Chief Financial Officer Jerry Murray and Chief Operating Officer Ashley Sheets.
At Home's lead director, Eric Ragatz, will become executive chairman. Ragatz is a former partner at Hellman & Friedman, where he worked for more than 20 years and is listed as a senior advisor on H&F's website.
“On behalf of the company, I want to thank Lee for his incredible leadership at At Home over the past decade,” said Ragatz. “Lee has helped build At Home into one of the leading retailers across its industry. As a leader and mentor, Lee has had a profound impact on At Home's thousands of employees and will continue to be a valued member of the At Home family.”
Bird joined the company as CEO in December 2012 after holding executive roles at Gap, Old Navy and Nike. He grew At Home from a chain with 58 stores and $364 million in sales to 268 stores with nearly $2 billion in annual sales. The company took private after a booming period as Americans cleaned up their homes during the pandemic. Sales rose 27.4% in 2020 to $1.74 billion.
Byrd was unavailable for an interview.
“Helping At Home become one of the nation's leading home decor retailers has been one of the great honors of my career,” Bird said in a press release, thanking staff members for their contributions to the company's success.
“Together we have created a valuable and differentiated business with room for further growth and I am confident in the team's ability to continue building on At Home's track record of success,” Bird said.
Looking for more retail information? click here Read all the retail news and updates. click here Subscribe to D-FW Retail and other Dallas Morning News newsletters.
