Majors

Signet Appoints Former Cracker Barrel CEO to Board

MajorsFeb 29, 2024

Signet Appoints Former Cracker Barrel CEO to Board

Sandra Cochran has more than 25 years of retail experience.

Sandra Cochran
Sandra Cochran, the former CEO of Cracker Barrel, has been appointed to Signet Jewelers’ board of directors.
Akron, Ohio—Signet Jewelers has named Sandra Cochran, the former CEO of Cracker Barrel, to its board of directors.

Cochran, who has more than 25 years of retail experience, joined the restaurant chain in 2009 as its chief financial officer and was named president and chief operating officer in 2010.

She led the chain as its CEO from September 2011 through November 2023 and served as the company’s executive chair until Feb. 22 of this year. 

Prior to her time at Cracker Barrel, she was the CEO of Books-A-Million, Inc. from 2004 to 2009. 

She currently also serves on the board of Lowe's Companies, Inc and formerly was on the boards of Cracker Barrel and Dollar General Corporation.

 Related stories will be right here … 

"Sandy's rich background in retail, coupled with her strong executive leadership skills and deep financial expertise, will make her an incredibly valuable member of the Signet board of directors," said Board Chairman H. Todd Stitzer. 

“She embodies the combination of skills we need to continue to build the Signet of the future. I'm thrilled to welcome Sandy to the board and believe that her experience in critical areas like marketing, risk management and strategic planning will help to further support Signet's transformation, led by CEO Gina Drosos.”

Cochran shared her excitement about joining the jeweler’s board.

"I'm delighted to join the Signet Board and see so much overlap between the work that I led at Cracker Barrel and the focus that Signet has on investing in the customer experience and leveraging loyalty, technology and personalization to help drive the business," said Cochran. 

"I look forward to helping Signet execute on its strategic priorities while also continuing to ‘Inspire Love’ around the world."

Signet’s board also appointed Cochran as a member of its Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee. 

Her appointment will temporarily increase the size of the board from 12 to 13 members, 12 of whom are independent, as Signet transitions to tenure limitations being reached on the board under the company’s Director Tenure Policy, the company said.

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