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After about nine months of public scrutiny and a leadership overhaul, Lumber Liquidators has named a new CEO to lead a company turnaround.
The new CEO, John Presley, was chairman of the lumber discounter’s board of directors and will remain a member of the board. On Nov. 16, he will take over the top executive position from company founder Thomas Sullivan, who has served as interim CEO since an executive staff reorganization began in May.
“Lumber Liquidators is fortunate to have someone with John’s operational expertise and track record of successful turnarounds to lead the company forward,” board member Nancy Taylor says. “John also brings deep experience managing companies in highly regulated industries, which will be instrumental to Lumber Liquidators moving forward.”
Earlier this year, Lumber Liquidators made staff changes after facing federal investigations, public criticism and lawsuits due to accusations that the company sold Chinese-made flooring that contained unsafe amounts of formaldehyde. Then-CEO Robert Lynch, who was leading the company when the investigations began, resigned in May.
Presley has served on the board of directors for Lumber Liquidators since April 2006, and was appointed chairman of the board in May 2015.
Presley has “significant operational, financial, turnaround and risk management expertise,” according to the company.
He has served in numerous senior management roles as a CEO and CFO of public companies, and most recently was CEO of First Capital Bancorp. During his time as CEO, First Capital significantly grew its total assets and expanded its branch footprint. Over the course of his career as a banking executive, Presley has been instrumental in expanding in-store retail branch networks and helped pioneer the creation of supermarket banking programs across the country.
