At Woolworths, Not So Jolly Good

British retailer Woolworths, one of the few remaining branches of the once-dominant American retail giant, announced a leadership change yesterday, dismissing Chief Executive Trevor Bish-Jones. Bish-Jones had taken the post in 2002, but faced a number of obstacles in his tenure as CEO, due mostly to oversized stores and a decline in sales due to the rise of online retailers.

With more than 800 locations across the United Kingdom, Woolworths is one of Britain's most recognizable retailers. The chain has suffered in recent years from declining retail sales and has scrambled to diversify its output, pursuing wholesale distribution of CDs and DVDs as well as its own joint-venture company with BBC Worldwide, 2entertain, which produces a variety of British DVDs such as the popular Planet Earth series.

In its press release, Woolworths Chairman Richard North praised Bish-Jones as "a tireless chief executive and [having] made a very significant contribution to the group." There is currently no successor in line to take the chief executive seat.

Woolworths had net losses of £9.5 million over the last two years, and shares have tumbled about 70 percent in the last year. Following news of Bish-Jones' departure, shares dropped to 9.00 pence, eventually stabilizing at around the 9.20 mark.