- Nordstrom shares are rising after GameStop chairman Ryan Cohen bought a stake in the department store chain.
- Cohen has focused on former Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Mark Tritton, who is on the Nordstrom board of directors.
- The news comes weeks after Nordstrom reported sluggish holiday sales and cut its full-year guidance.
Stock nordstrom On Friday morning, they rose after activist investor and meme maven Ryan Cohen bought a large stake in the high-end department store company.
Shares closed more than 24% higher on Friday.
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Cohen is now one of Nordstrom’s five largest non-family shareholders and wants to use his new position to shake up the retailer’s board, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. He is interested in board changes that could support cost-cutting efforts amid Nordstrom’s declining market capitalization.
Nordstrom, for its part, said it was ready to listen to Cohen.
“Although Mr. Cohen has not attempted to negotiate with us for several years, we are ready to listen to his point of view, as are all shareholders of Nordstrom,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to take actions that we believe are in the best interests of the company and our shareholders.”
Cohen previously traveled to Seattle, where the company is based, to meet members of the Nordström family and learn more about the business, People said. It is not known when the trip took place.
The news about Cohen comes weeks after Nordstrom, which had to cut prices sharply to ease excess inventory, reported weak holiday sales and cut its full-year guidance. The company is due to report earnings on March 2.
Cohen, who founded a website for pet stores and health products. Chewing, is considered the champion among the crowd of memes. He is the chairman of the beloved Reddit game stop. He also provoked a brief rally in Bed Bath and more last year before he ended up dumping the stock. Bed Bath is expected to file for bankruptcy protection any day now.
Cohen again targeted Mark Tritton, a former Target an executive who was ousted as CEO of Bed Bath last year as Cohen’s firm put pressure on a struggling home improvement salesman. Tritton has been on Nordstrom’s board of directors for almost three years, having previously worked for the company from 2009 to 2016.
Cohen doesn’t think Tritton should remain on the board of directors or remain chairman of Nordstrom’s compensation committee, which controls the wages of Nordstrom family members, because he previously worked under them, people say.
Eric Nordstrom is the company’s CEO and Peter Nordstrom is its president.
Triton declined to comment.
During his time at Bed Bath, Tritton earned more than $40 million before he was fired last year. Cohen had previously approached him about compensation in a letter last year.
“Mr. Tritton must acknowledge that executives who receive huge rewards and seek frequent publicity also raise much higher expectations when it comes to growth and value creation for shareholders,” the letter says.
Cohen has hired a number of director candidates as potential replacements, sources said. The recruits have previously held leadership positions at major retail and e-commerce companies.
This was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
— Kerry Cofield of CNBC and Lillian Rizzo
Credit: www.cnbc.com /