ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 27, 1996 TAG: 9612270046
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
SOURCE: Associated Press
Former Toys R Us executive Roger Goddu has been chosen as the new chairman and chief executive of Montgomery Ward & Co., the nation's largest privately held retailer.
With the appointment, announced Thursday, Goddu replaces Bernard F. Brennan. The company said Brennan, 58, is stepping back from day-to-day responsibilities to assume a more strategic role at the retailer's parent, Montgomery Ward Holding Corp., where he will remain chairman.
Goddu, 40, had been president of the purchasing unit at Toys R Us Inc. Before joining that company he was a senior executive at Target Stores, a discount chain owned by Dayton Hudson Corp.
Leo Shapiro, of the marketing research firm Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, said Goddu's experience at Toys R Us should be valuable at Montgomery Ward, which has had difficulty defending its marketing niche.
``Basically, merchandise sold by Montgomery Ward is also sold by other retailers, in markets that overlap,'' Shapiro said. ``As a mass retailer, they have to find their way in this kind of competitive environment. To do that they have to have an offering that is distinctive.''
Montgomery Ward has been hurt recently by weak financial results. Through the first three quarters of 1996, Ward lost $72 million on sales of $4.57 billion, compared with a profit of $10 million on sales of $4.8 billion in the same period a year earlier.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB