Staples Chooses Coca-Cola Executive as CEO

Staples Inc. has hired a long-time Coca-Cola Co. executive as its next leader.

Staples said Sandy Douglas will take over for Chief Executive Shira Goodman, less than a year after the office supplier was taken private.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday morning that Ms. Goodman would leave the company.

Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners bought Staples in September for about $6.9 billion, halting more than a decade of declining share performance. Sycamore planned to split the company into three divisions focusing on U.S. retail, Canadian retail, and a delivery business that serves big corporate and government customers.

Mr. Douglas was former president of Coca-Cola North America. The company announced in October that he planned to retire this March. He joined Coca-Cola in 1988 and was credited with "reinvigorating" the company's core soft-drinks business.

Ms. Goodman, a Staples veteran, took over the company in 2016 after previous CEO Ron Sargent resigned after failing to merge with rival Office Depot Inc.

Write to Austen Hufford at Austen.Hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2018 16:06 ET (21:06 GMT)