Retail 2024: CHARLES E. TYSON

Tyson has headed up the flooring company formerly known as Lumber Liquidators since 2020, the year after LL Flooring agreed to pay $33 million to settle federal securities fraud charges. He joined the company in 2018 as chief customer experience officer after spending nine years at Advance
Auto Parts.

Prospects looked bright early in his tenure, with the company opening 17 stores in 2022. But in 2023, Tyson reported challenges, amid worsening financial news.

Net sales in 2023 were down 18.5% from 2022, from $1.11 billion to $904.7 million. The company closed eight locations and opened three in 2023, and net losses last year amounted to $103.5 million, a large increase from a net loss of $12.1 million in 2022.

LL Flooring’s board rejected an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Cabinets To Go, a subsidiary of F9 Brands, in June 2023. F9 then began a proxy fight, and with its affiliates, it’s now the company’s largest shareholder. In August, LL Flooring announced it had entered Chapter 11 reorganization. Tyson said in a statement that LL Flooring intends to “reduce our physical footprint and close certain stores while pursuing a going-concern sale of the rest of our business.”