Sporting goods retailer Academy Sports and Outdoors appointed supply chain veteran and Alphabet executive Monique Picou to its board of directors, effective immediately, the retailer said in a March 19 press release.
Picou has more than 30 years of experience in logistics, strategic planning, operations, digital/technology and engineering, according to the release. She joined Alphabet in 2021 as VP of Google product, technology strategy and global server operations, before moving to her current role as VP of Google Cloud supply chain and operations.
Before Alphabet, Picou served as chief strategy and supply chain officer at Sam’s Club, as well as VP of supply chain at its parent company, Walmart.
"Monique brings extensive experience in supply chain, logistics, and strategic planning at large technology, retail and manufacturing companies. Her expertise will be a great asset as we leverage and scale our supply chain,” Ken Hicks, executive chairman of Academy Sports, said in the release.
Academy Sports has been focused on strengthening its supply chain. Last year, a reorganization put stores and supply chain under the purview of Academy Sports’ President Sam Johnson. The company also hired Rob Howell as its chief supply chain officer in February, replacing Sherry Harriman.
CEO Steve Lawrence said on a recent earnings call that Howell aims to ensure a smooth rollout of a warehouse management system over the next 18 to 24 months. The company is currently using a 30-year-old Exeter system, CFO Carl Ford said on the call.
Academy Sports is also in the midst of improving cross-stock to reduce the average inventory it carries. Overall, such efforts have already led to the postponement of a fourth distribution center.
“One preliminary outcome from this review [is] that we now believe we can deliver improved utilization out of our existing DC network. The result of this is that our forecasted need of a fourth distribution center will move from May 2026 go live to 2027 or 2028,” Lawrence told investors and analysts. “As you can see, we're making solid progress across multiple fronts.”
