The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. said Dec. 19 that Barry Sanders, president and chief operating officer, will depart the company Jan. 31, 2015, as part of an ongoing effort focused on de-layering the company to improve operational efficiency and speed to market. Since the beginning of the current calendar year, the company said it has eliminated approximately 25 percent of its leadership roles at the senior vice president level or higher. The company intends to have completed the vast majority of these efforts by the end of the first half of fiscal 2015.
Mike Lukemire, who currently leads the North American consumer business, will become chief operating officer. The entire global consumer segment will report to Lukemire, as will Scotts LawnService. Strategic planning will report to Chairman and CEO Jim Hagedorn.
Jim Gimeson will assume sole leadership of Scotts LawnService. Gimeson and Mark Wilhelmi have been co-leaders of this business since last summer as part of a transition plan related to Wilhelmi’s planned retirement after 40 years with the company.
Lukemire joined Scotts in 1995. He had 16 years of business unit and operations management experience before joining the company, with stints at Nabisco, Kraft-General Foods and Kroger. He earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and biology at Georgetown College (Kentucky), and attended the Kraft Executive Management School at Southern Methodist University.
Gimeson joined Scotts in 2008. Previously, he was president and chief operating officer for the Longaberger Co., a leading direct marketing company of home décor products. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Muskingum University and completed his MBA at The Ohio State University’s Max M. Fisher College of Business.