« Despite all of the challenges on our website, we are still the 10th largest Internet retailer in America. » Sharon McCollam, CFO and chief administrative officer for Best Buy Co. Inc.
About McCollam: Came to Best Buy in December 2012 after a respected 12-year career at specialty retailer Williams-Sonoma, where she was executive vice president, CFO and chief operating officer. McCollam also served as CFO at Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. from 1996 to 2000 and in other finance-related leadership positions at Dole Food Co. from 1993 until 1996.
Personal file: McCollam is a board director at Sutter Health, a nonprofit network of hospitals and doctors in northern California, and Art.com. She is University of Central Oklahoma graduate and a certified public accountant.
What's big in 2014: McCollam will continue to ring cost savings from Best Buy to help fund its efforts to match prices with competitors such as Wal-Mart and Amazon. She will oversee the overhaul of Best Buy's inventory systems to allow physical stores to sell returned and deeply discounted merchandise over the Internet and make tough decisions about a sprawling real estate portfolio. The real challenge is to show Wall Street that Best Buy can win market share without blowing up profitability.
Final word: "From an e-commerce point of view, we will be able to completely unlock the ability to sell that clearance inventory through the online channel, thus substantially improving the profit margin," she said.
Thomas Lee
