Office Depot Appoints Former B/E Aerospace Executive Joseph Lower As CFO

(RTTNews) - Office Depot, Inc. (ODP), a provider of office supplies, business products and services, announced Wednesday the appointment of Joseph Lower as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective January 8. He succeeds Stephen Hare, Executive Vice President and CFO, who is retiring after four years in the role. Hare will assist in the transition of duties.

As CFO, Lower will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Gerry Smith and be a member of the Executive Committee. He will be responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the company.

Lower most recently served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at B/E Aerospace, Inc., which was recently bought by Rockwell Collins (COL).

Prior to joining B/E Aerospace in 2014, Lower was Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for The Boeing Company, where he spent 12 years. Among other finance positions, Lower spent six years with Credit Suisse in various investment banking roles.

Lower SAID, "Office Depot is in an exciting early stage of transforming from a traditional provider of primarily office products into a broader product and business services platform, and I'm honored to be joining the team at this pivotal time. The company has a strong balance sheet and a willingness to reinvest to strengthen its core while concurrently pursuing innovative opportunities to leverage its key assets and disrupt traditional retail thinking."