ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Brett Ponton, president and CEO of Monro Inc. since October 2017, has resigned and is leaving Monro to become CEO of ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc., the provider of pest control, cleaning and restoration services.
Monro named Robert Mellor, chairman of the company's board of directors since 2017 and a board member since 2010, interim CEO while it starts a search process for a successor.
Mr. Ponton, a former Goodyear vice president, came to Monro nearly three years ago from AAMCO Transmission & Total Car Care, where he was CEO. During his time as Monro's top executive, the company's sales have grown to nearly $1.3 billion from $1 billion.
Separately, Memphis-based ServiceMaster disclosed Mr. Ponton will become its CEO "on or before Oct. 1."
In a prepared statement, Mr. Mellor thanked Mr. Ponton for his "leadership and contributions" to Monro and stressed that the company has a "strong leadership team in place and a solid foundation to drive a scalable platform for long-term sustainable growth.
"We are confident that our firm commitment to driving the continued execution of our Monro.Forward strategy combined with our solid balance sheet positions us well to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities," he said.
Monro recently reported double-digit declines in sales and operating income for the quarter ended June 27 — down 22.1% and 68.7% respectively — on the negative effects of COVID-19-related business and travel restrictions.
In his own prepared statement, Mr. Ponton said: "I am very proud of the progress Monro has made in its transformational journey and believe our accomplishments have established a strong and durable platform for future growth.
"It has been a pleasure to work with our incredibly talented and collaborative team and board. For these reasons and many more, leaving Monro was an incredibly difficult personal decision."
Prior to his time at AAMCO, Mr. Ponton was president and CEO of Heartland Automotive, the largest operator of Jiffy Lube stores in North America, and spent 16 years at Goodyear, where he managed more than 800 Goodyear retail locations and 8,000 employees and advanced to vice president of marketing for the North America tire division before leaving in 2009.
In a statement released by ServiceMaster, Mr. Ponton said: “With the cultural and operational transformation at Terminix and the strategic review of ServiceMaster Brands under way, the company is well positioned for short and long-term growth, and I look forward to safely getting out in the field to connect with our team members.”
As chairman of Monro, Mr. Mellor has been closely involved with the development and execution of the company's "Monro.Forward" strategy, which focuses on driving operational excellence and delivering a consistent best-in-class customer experience.
Monro also has added Leah Johnson, chief communications and marketing officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, to fill the seat on its board being vacated by Mr. Ponton. As such, she will serve on the board until a successor has been elected and qualified at the 2020 annual meeting.
Mr. Mellor lauded Ms. Johnson's expertise in strategic communications and marketing, stating it will add "tremendous value" to the company's efforts to execute the Monro.Forward strategy.