Jim Loree Named CEO of Serta Simmons Bedding

DORAVILLE, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 26, 2024--

Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC (SSB), a leading global sleep company, today announced that Jim Loree, a seasoned executive and a member of the SSB Board of Directors, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1. He succeeds Mark Genender, Interim Chief Executive Officer, who will remain on the SSB Board of Directors as Chairman and transition with Loree over the coming months.

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Loree brings significant consumer durables and retail channel experience, having served in C-suite roles at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. for almost 25 years, including serving as the company’s CEO from 2016 to June 2022. During his tenure, Loree led growth strategies to increase revenue from $2 billion to $16 billion. Under Loree’s leadership, the company enhanced its advanced manufacturing capabilities, increased operational excellence and responsible business practices, and was recognized as a best workplace for innovators as well as for diversity and inclusion.

“It’s been a privilege to serve as Interim CEO, and I’m proud of the entire SSB team’s commitment to our turnaround efforts,” said Genender. “Over the last eight months, we have successfully relaunched a large portion of our product portfolio, enhanced critical retail relationships, initiated national advertising campaigns, and improved service levels and operating metrics across our plant network. These accomplishments have only been possible through coordination and teamwork across all functions of the organization. We are beginning to see the success of these efforts through regained market share, and we are well positioned for future growth and success.”

“Jim’s appointment follows a thoughtful search for a permanent CEO by our Board of Directors. We are confident he is the right choice to help us continue accelerating our turnaround efforts and drive financial results,” Genender added. “He brings deep experience from Stanley Black & Decker and General Electric and a record of delivering operating and financial results, and I look forward to working closely with him as Board Chairman as we continue to expand our business and drive profitability.”

"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Serta Simmons Bedding team into the next phase of our company's turnaround, grounded in progress and profitable growth," said Loree. "Mark and the leadership team have laid a strong foundation for success, and I look forward to building on the turnaround strategy and developing a strong culture of accountability focused on driving financial results.”

About Jim Loree

Jim Loree is the former chief executive officer of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., a position he held from 2016 to June 2022. He also served on the Board of Directors of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. during that time. As CEO, Loree led more than 60,000 employees across 60 countries who make power tools, hand tools, outdoor power equipment and industrial products.

Loree originally joined Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., then Stanley Works, as Vice President and CFO in 1999, and was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in 2009 and then CEO in 2016. During his nearly 25 years at the company, Loree led growth strategies to increase revenue from $2 billion to $16 billion. Prior to joining Stanley Works, Loree spent 19 years at General Electric Company in a combination of leadership positions in finance, strategic planning and operating management.

Loree holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College, and serves on the board of Whirlpool Corporation, United Natural Foods, Inc., and Quinnipiac University, and is also a director of the Jim and Rebecca Loree Foundation.

About Serta Simmons Bedding

Serta Simmons Bedding (SSB) is one of the leading global sleep companies. With a 150-year heritage in delivering industry-leading sleep solutions and a mission to help people sleep better so they can live healthier lives, the company is headquartered in Doraville, GA, and owns top brands such as Serta ®, which has five other independent licensees, Beautyrest ®, Tuft & Needle ® and Beauty Sleep ®. For more information about SSB and its brands, visit https://sertasimmons.com/.

Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC (SSB), a leading global sleep company, today announced that Jim Loree, a seasoned executive and a member of the SSB Board of Directors, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1. (Photo: Business Wire)

NANTERRE, France (AP) — One year after a French teenager with North African origins was killed by police — a shooting that sparked shock and days of rioting across France — his mother led a silent march Saturday to pay homage to her son.

It comes at a politically fraught time. Hate speech is blighting the campaign for snap parliamentary elections taking place this weekend, and an anti-immigration party that wants to boost police powers to use their weapons, and has historic ties to racism and antisemitism is leading in the polls.

Several hundred family members, friends and supporters gathered in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to remember 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot dead at point-blank range by a police officer at a traffic check on June 27, 2023.

Within hours of his death, Merzouk, a delivery driver from a working-class neighborhood, became a symbol. For many across France, he was the embodiment of young French Black and North African men who, studies show, face police checks and discrimination more frequently than their white counterparts.

At Sunday's march, his mother Mounia spoke to the crowd then broke off in tears. Friends wore white t-shirts with Merzouk’s photo, and fellow residents of his housing project held a banner reading “Justice for Nahel.” The march ended at the spot where he was killed, and an imam sang and read a prayer.

There was no visible police presence, though organizers of the march recruited guards to ensure security for the event. Merzouk's mother asked politicians to stay away, to avoid politicking or tensions the day before France’s parliamentary elections.

On Sunday, French voters will cast ballots in the first round of snap elections for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, that could lead to the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation.

French opinion polls suggest the National Rally party could dominate the next parliament after the July 7 second round and get the prime minister’s job. In that scenario, Centrist President Emmanuel Macron would retain the presidency until 2027 but in a sharply weakened role.

“This march, happening now, it is a powerful symbol," said Assa Traore, who has been fighting for justice since her brother Adama died in the custody of French police in 2016.

“It means that history can’t write itself without us. We, from the working-class neighborhoods, are the firsthand victims of these elections. We realized, from an early stage, that the National Rally and far-right parties were a danger for our country and will weaken it," said the 39-year-old with Malian roots who will march alongside Merzouk’s family.

Merzouk's death, which was captured on video, stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and disadvantaged suburbs, many of whom are French-born youth with immigrant family backgrounds. Fueled by TikTok, riots spread with unprecedented speed before a mass police crackdown. The unrest caused, according to French authorities, more than $1 billion in damage.

The officer who fired the shot cited self-defense, and an extreme-right figure started a crowdfunding campaign for the policeman that drew $1.6 million before being shut down.

Citing security concerns, notably in housing projects and other impoverished areas in French suburbs or “banlieues,” the far-right National Rally wants to give a specific new legal status to police. If police officers use their arms during an intervention, they would be presumed to have acted in self-defense. Currently police officers have the same legal status as all French citizens and have to prove they acted in self-defense.

The left-wing coalition New Popular Front, meanwhile, wants to ban the use of some police weapons and dismantle a notoriously tough police unit.

“People fear the victory of the National Rally. But, we, people from working-class neighborhoods, are afraid every day that our sons, brothers, or husbands will be killed. Racism and racial profiling are our daily life," Traore said.

Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

Follow AP's coverage of elections worldwide at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/

FILE - Flowers lay at the tomb of Nahel Merzouk on July 5, 2023 in a cemetery in Nanterre, a Paris suburb. One year after the French teenager with North African origins was killed by police, a shooting that sparked shock and days of rioting across France, his mother is leading a silent march Saturday, June 29, 2024 to pay homage to her son. (AP Photo/Cara Anna, File)