Régis Schultz

Régis Schultz
Born (1968-12-10) 10 December 1968 (age 55)
France
Alma materParis Dauphine University
OccupationCEO of JD Sports
EmployerJD Sports
TitleCEO

Régis Schultz (born 10 December 1968), is a French businessman, currently the CEO of JD Sports.[1] During his career, Régis Schultz held the positions of President of Retail at Al-Futtaim Group, CEO of French retail chain Monoprix and member of the executive committee of Groupe Casino, CEO of Darty, CEO of French retailer BUT and top executive of Kingfisher PLC.

Biography

Early career

After graduating from Paris Dauphine University in 1993, Régis Schultz started his career with the Pernod Ricard Group as Financial Controller at Orangina, becoming Chief Financial Officer of CSR Pampryl in 1997.

In 2000, he joined Kingfisher plc starting in Castorama France as Chief Financial Officer and then became the Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

In 2003, he moves to London to be the Strategy and Development Director of Kingfisher, member of the executive board, stepping up as Chief Financial Officer, Commercial Director and finally Chief Operating Officer for the subsidiary of Kingfisher, B&Q (Block & Quayle).[2][3]

In 2008, Régis Schultz became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the French furniture retailer BUT, after the leveraged buyout from Goldman Sachs and Colony Capital. After a successful turnaround at BUT, he joins Darty PLC as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Darty France in 2013.[4]

Following the take over by Fnac in 2016, he became the Chairman and CEO of Monoprix and member of the Casino Group executive committee.

In September 2022, he became the CEO of JD Sports.[5][6][7][8]

CEO of BUT

In October 2008, Schultz became CEO of BUT, a major French furniture retailer acquired by Colony Capital and Goldman Sachs. Driving organizational change, he digitalized BUT's stores and introduced new store formats, reviving its profitability and market share.[9]

BUT sold 25 of its stores property for 200 million euros, thus unloading most of the company's debt.[10] It opened BUT City and BUT Cosy stores - the retailer's new store formats, fully modernized its inventory and equipped all the employees with connected touch pads.[11] Régis Schultz lead BUT[12] to launching its first ecommerce website and implemented the performance and sales management system across the entire network of retail outlets.[13]

Under Schultz's tenure, BUT's sales grew 7% yearly, hitting 1.8 billion euros in 2011.[14]

CEO of Darty

In April 2013, Schultz became CEO of Darty - Europe's third-largest electrical goods retailer.[15] He was in charge of managing the company's reorganization, applying the strategy code-named 'Nouvelle Confiance' which includes the "4D" plan: drive trading, digitalize Darty, develop the brand and deliver cost efficiency.[16]

With Schultz as CEO, Darty's stores were digitalized and the new pricing strategy supported Darty in better competing against low-cost offering. Customer service was revolutionized with same-day delivery and the company launched the 'Darty button' - a home device that connects customers to Darty.[17][18] Darty franchise program aimed to target least densely populated areas and the multi channel strategy development had a major impact on Darty's sales.[19][20] An online marketplace similar to Amazon’s was launched to maintain the brand's leading position on the Web.[17][21] The French online retailer Mistergooddeal was acquired, enabling Darty to set a foot in the low cost market.[22]

Schultz has been called the architect of Darty's turnaround.[23] Net results went from 38 million euros in 2013[24] to 93 million in 2016,[25] and the share price moved from 40p when he joined Darty to 170p three years later.[26] After Fnac acquired Darty in April 2016, Régis Schultz announced he would be moving away from the operations role and will remain leading the company as CEO.[27]

President of Monoprix

On 22 August 2016, Schultz became president of the French retail chain Monoprix and member of the executive committee of the Groupe Casino.[28] During his mandate, Schultz launched and drove the digital transformation of the company, notably by acquiring a stake in the French e-shopping startup 'Epicery',[29] taking over Sarenza with its ecommerce know-how,[30][31] launching the partnership with Amazon Prime Now for express delivery and signing the agreement with Ocado - the online grocery retailer.[32] Schultz's digital strategy included other initiatives such as the vocal shopping list with Google, online recipes with Jow and in-store mobile payments services.

It is also under his presidency that Monoprix accelerated its sustainable development, with initiatives such as the expansion of organic products offering, implementation of paper reduction program, eliminating printed catalogues and tackling plastic waste and pollution by launching the scheme that eliminated single-use plastic packaging.

President of Al-Futtaim Retail

In September 2019, Schultz was appointed Chairman and CEO of Al-Futtaim Retail,[33] a division of the Al-Futtaim Group. Operating in 16 countries across Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia, Al-Futtaim Retail runs more than 70 brands with over 700 stores.

CEO of JD Sports

Schultz joined the JD Sports as its CEO in 2022.[5][6][7][34] In February 2023, he presented his five-year growth strategy.[35] His plan includes opening up to 350 new stores a year as well as double-digit sales growth, double-digit market share in key regions and double-digit operating margin.[36]

References

  1. ^ Karimi, Amna; Shabong, Yadarisa (2 August 2022). "JD Sports fills CEO position after 8 years with Schultz appointment". Reuters. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  2. ^ "B&Q revamp; News in brief". Highbeam.com. 22 June 2005. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3. ^ James Quilter (21 June 2005). "B&Q parts company with marketing director Roth". Campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Darty plc – Appointment of new Chief Executive". Dartygroup.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b "How Régis Schultz is making his mark on JD Sports". Management Today. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Distribution : un patron français prend la tête du Decathlon britannique". Les Echos. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b "JD Sports' new CEO Schultz lays out growth plans". Reuters. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Régis Schultz prend la direction générale de JD Sports". LSA. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  9. ^ Sarah Shannon (1 February 2013). "Darty Announces Chief of French Furniture BUT Chain to Be CEO". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  10. ^ "BUT French Furniture Retailer Sells Property For EUR200 Million". Advfn.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  11. ^ Muriel Motte (21 April 2016). "Régis Schultz, le redresseur de Darty récompensé". Lopinion.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  12. ^ Florence Bray (15 October 2009). "Entretien avec Régis Schultz, PDG de But : " But regagne des parts de marché "". Lsa-conso.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Business & Decision implements decision-making solution at 'BUT', the French electrical and furnishing retailer". Businessdecision.com. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  14. ^ Julien Ponthus (3 April 2012). "Funds circle French retailer BUT - sources". Reuters.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  15. ^ "Electrical goods retailer Darty names Regis Schultz CEO". Reuters.com. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  16. ^ Stuart Wilson (12 September 2013). "Darty updates on progress". Channelemea.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  17. ^ a b Régis Schultz (16 March 2015). "Comment: How I learned to love online marketplaces after ruling them out as a fad". Retail-week.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  18. ^ Matthew Chapman (22 June 2015). "Darty swings back to profit despite sales dip as cost cutting kicks in". Retail-week.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  19. ^ "Darty CEO outlines franchising plan". Channelemea.com. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  20. ^ Paul Jarvis (29 April 2014). "Darty Chief Targets 20% Market Share With Small-Store Expansion". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  21. ^ Caroline Baldwin (27 July 2015). "Why are retailers launching online marketplaces?". Essentialretail.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  22. ^ "Darty Subsidiary Acquires French Deals Website". Morningstar.co.uk. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  23. ^ James Crux (18 February 2016). "Darty's cash delivery". Sharesmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  24. ^ Ivan Letessier (20 June 2013). "Darty accélère son plan d'économies pour se relancer". Lefigaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  25. ^ "L'opérationnel courant de Darty monte avant le rachat de la Fnac". Reuters.com (in French). 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  26. ^ Adam Thomson (26 May 2016). "Darty chief bullish over annual results". Ft.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  27. ^ "BRIEF-Darty appoints Benoît Jaubert managing director of Darty France". Reuters.com. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Schultz Joins Groupe Casino As Chairman Of Monoprix". Esmmagazine.com. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  29. ^ "Epicery noue un parteneriat strategique avec Monoprix" (PDF). entreprise.monoprix.fr. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  30. ^ "Monoprix announces entering into exclusive negotiations to acquire Sarenza" (PDF). www.groupe-casino.fr. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Monoprix acquires shoe retailer Sarenza". ecommercenews.eu/. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  32. ^ "Monoprix Wants to Be French Whole Foods in Amazon Partnership". www.bloomberg.com/. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  33. ^ "Regis Schultz to depart top job at Monoprix". www.reuters.com. 25 June 2019.
  34. ^ "JD Sports: Régis Schultz va prendre ses fonctions de directeur général en septembre". Fashion Network. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  35. ^ "JD Sports expands to Middle East in first franchise deal". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  36. ^ "JD Sports CEO eyes expansion". Drapers. Retrieved 7 December 2023.