The Reject Shop has tapped a former senior Bunnings and Officeworks executive as its new CEO. 

Phil Bishop, who was most recently director of merchandise & marketing at Bunnings, also served as COO at Officeworks. His retail career started 30 years ago as a people greeter in a Target store.

He will take over from Andre Reich who resigned suddenly in April, leading to the interim appointment of CFO Clinton Cahn to the role. 

The Reject Shop chairman Steven Fisher described Bishop as “an experienced retail leader with a proven record of contributing to the growth and transformation of businesses through clarity of strategy, innovation and cultural change, which has delivered value for shareholders”.

He joins the business after the implementation of the initial phases of a turnaround strategy which Fisher days is now well-positioned with a lower cost base, an experienced and talented senior leadership team and a growing national store network, all supported by a strong balance sheet.

“As the company transitions into the ‘grow’ phase of the turnaround strategy, I am confident that Phil is the right person to lead the company,” he said.

Bishop said he saw “a significant opportunity to grow The Reject Shop through better understanding its customers, continuing to evolve the product offering and continuing to expand the store network. “I look forward to executing the turnaround strategy and delivering comparable sales growth and creating value for shareholders.”