AeroGrow International (OTC:AERO), makers of the AeroGarden line of indoor gardening products, announced, in a press release, back in February, that it named J. Michael Wolfe as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Concurrently, AeroGrow announced the retirement of Jack Walker as CEO. Mr. Walker will remain Chairman of the Board. Mr. Wolfe will begin his new role as CEO on March 31, 2011. As I write, shares of AeroGrow were down at $0.041 per share on very light volume of 3,112 compared to its average daily volume of 48,959 shares. The company has a 52-week range between $0.03 and $0.19 per share.According to the press release, Mr. Walker has been CEO of AeroGrow since January 2010. His retirement comes as planned after the transition of AeroGrow from a company generating most of its revenue through wholesale sales to retailers, to a company that reported its first quarterly operating profit in over two years and now generates most of its revenue through direct-to-consumer sales. AeroGrow would like to thank Mr. Walker for his dedication and guidance during a time of rapid change for the Company.
"When I became CEO last year, I immediately named Mike as our COO and we have worked closely over the past year," said Mr. Walker. "I have been impressed with his energy, passion and skill in leading many of the initiatives that have resulted in our emerging turnaround. Mike has headed AeroGrow's highly successful direct-to-consumer efforts since January 2009 and has the ideal experience for leading AeroGrow in this new direction. He understands our products, customers, supply lines and logistics better than anyone. Mike's successful career track record, as well as his demonstrated leadership abilities, enhance my already optimistic views for AeroGrow's growth in coming years."
Mr. Wolfe joined AeroGrow in April 2006 as Vice President of Operations, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in January 2010, and to President in November 2010. Mr. Wolfe has over 20 years of senior level operations experience in the field of consumer products with particular emphasis in direct marketing, order fulfillment and customer service/telemarketing.
Mr. Wolfe served as COO and later CEO of Concepts Direct, Inc., a Colorado-based multi-catalog operation. He helped drive that business to nearly $100 million in annual revenue, while overseeing the launch and operation of 7 independent catalogs including the Colorful Images, Snoopy and Linda Anderson brands, with a database of over 10 million names. Concepts Direct was sold to Taylor Corporation in 2004.
"On behalf of the entire team at AeroGrow I'd like to provide sincere thanks to Jack for all his hard work and dedication to AeroGrow since first joining AeroGrow's board in February 2006," said Mr. Wolfe. "Jack has not only led multiple rounds of funding for the Company, but he stepped in as CEO at a critical point in our development and successfully led the turnaround efforts of the company for the last twelve months. I'm happy that we'll continue to have his guidance as Chairman of the Board. For my part, I'm excited to continue to drive the improving bottom line performance of the Company, and feel confident I can help add substantial revenue to the top line as well in coming years. Profitably delivering exceptional products to our customers, expanding the customer base, and building shareholder value will be my top concerns in the coming year."
Founded in 2002 in Boulder, Colorado, AeroGrow is dedicated to the research, development and marketing of the AeroGarden line of foolproof, dirt-free indoor gardens. AeroGardens allow anyone to grow farmer's market fresh herbs, salad greens, tomatoes, chili peppers, flowers and more, indoors, year-round, so simply and easily that no green thumb is required.
For more information, please visit: www.aerogrow.com.
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