Wayfair’s chief commercial officer will exit at the end of the first quarter.
The home goods retailer announced on Wednesday that Steve Oblak will retire from the company after 14 years. Succeeding him is Jon Blotner, who is currently Wayfair’s vice president of global merchandising, proprietary brands, and advertising and media. Blotner will take over as incoming chief commercial officer in July before formally taking on the role in October.
Niraj Shah, Wayfair’s CEO, co-founder and co-chairman, commended Oblak’s role in driving success at the company, with Wayfair growing from a $250 million business when he joined in 2009 to reaching $12 billion in net revenue today.
“He oversaw countless milestones, from helping to launch the Wayfair brand as we brought together hundreds of sites into a single platform, to launching new categories, business lines, and geographies while overseeing our North American and European businesses, to leading our debut into physical retail," Shah said in a statement.
Blotner has nearly two decades of experience growing retail businesses, technology offerings and services, the company said. Blotner oversees Wayfair’s exclusive brands and specialty retailers, including AllModern, Joss & Main and Birch Lane. He also leads the company’s visual media, 3D operations and technology, merchandising as a service, advertising, and supplier acquisition and onboarding areas. Blotner has previous experience working for Bain & Company and online jewelry retailer Gemvara before it was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway.
At the same time, Wayfair announced its quarter-to-date gross revenue is improving, currently landing in the negative mid-single-digit percentage range year over year, driven by total order growth turning positive during the period.
"Our core commercial offering is stronger than ever and we see momentum in the topline as our vast selection, sharp pricing, and fast, seamless delivery all resonate with customers to drive better results. We continue to take market share and execute tightly against our cost efficiency plan, driving us to Adjusted EBITDA profitability in Q2,” Shah said.
In May, the company reported first-quarter net revenue fell 7.3% year over year to $2.8 billion, with U.S. revenue falling 5% and international revenue declining 20.4%. Wayfair’s EBITDA improved during the period, but its operating and net losses continued to grow. The company’s operating loss increased nearly 12% year over year to $347 million, while net loss grew 11.3% to $355 million.
