Mattress Tub & Past names interim CFO after Arnal’s demise

Mattress Tub & Past Inc. promoted its chief accounting officer to interim chief monetary officer after the demise of former finance chief Gustavo Arnal. 

Laura Crossen, the corporate’s senior vp of finance and chief accounting officer, has taken over the place, Mattress Tub & Past stated in an announcement on Tuesday. She is going to proceed as principal accounting officer. 

Arnal, the previous CFO, fell to his demise Sept. 2 from a Manhattan skyscraper. The shares of the struggling home-goods retailer slumped 14% at 10:35 a.m. in New York, the primary day of buying and selling after the information was reported over the Labor Day weekend. 

Mattress Tub & Past retailer in Charlotte, North Carolina

Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg

Crossen has labored at Mattress Tub & Past for greater than 20 years, the corporate stated in June when she was promoted from her function as senior vp of treasury, tax and finance transformation to chief accounting officer. Earlier than becoming a member of Mattress Tub & Past, she was an government at Delia’s, an attire retailer targeted on teenage women, and in addition labored at what was then referred to as Ernst & Younger.

Mattress Tub & Past executives try to execute a turnaround of the corporate, which has been burning by money and has reported vital gross sales declines. A number of prime executives have exited the corporate lately: Former Chief Govt Officer Mark Tritton departed in June and final week the chief working officer and chief shops officer left after their roles had been eradicated. Sue Gove, a board member, is serving as CEO on an interim foundation as the corporate searches for a everlasting substitute for Tritton. 

That is left Mattress Tub & Past with a scarcity of longtime executives to information the corporate by the monetary and market tumult it has confronted throughout the previous a number of months. Crossen may also have to complete getting ready the corporate’s second-quarter outcomes, that are set to be reported on Sept. 29. Final week, the corporate warned traders that it expects to report a decline in comparable gross sales of 26% versus the year-ago interval.

The Union, New Jersey-based firm confirmed Sept. four that the 52-year-old Arnal had died. The New York Metropolis Medical Examiner’s Workplace dominated the demise a suicide, in keeping with the New York Occasions. 

Arnal was among the many Mattress Tub & Past executives who offered particulars final Wednesday on the corporate’s turnaround plan, which included chopping 20% of jobs throughout its company and supply-chain operations and shutting about 150 lower-producing shops. The plan additionally envisioned new financing and the sale of as many as 12 million shares to boost liquidity because it fights to outlive.

Arnal joined the retailer in Could 2020 because it navigated the pandemic. He was beforehand with Avon Merchandise Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. 

“The whole Mattress Tub & Past Inc. group is profoundly saddened by this surprising loss,” the corporate stated in an announcement over the weekend. 

— With help from Elena Popina and Joel Rosenblatt