On May 26, 2021, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of The Container Store Group, Inc. (NYSE: TCS) (the “Company”) nominated Anthony Laday, Chief Financial Officer of Fogo de Chão, and Nicole Otto, former VP of Nike Direct North America, for election as Class II Directors at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”), currently scheduled to take place on September 1, 2021. Upon a favorable vote by the Company’s shareholders at the Annual Meeting, Mr. Laday and Ms. Otto’s appointment to the Board will become effective as of the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.
“We are pleased our Board of Directors has nominated Anthony Laday and Nicole Otto”
The Board also appointed Mr. Laday to the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Ms. Otto to the Culture and Compensation Committee effective as of the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.
"We are pleased our Board of Directors has nominated Anthony Laday and Nicole Otto,” said CEO, Satish Malhotra. “These distinguished individuals are subject matter experts in their respective fields and will bring unique perspectives to The Container Store and its shareholders. We extend our sincere gratitude to Melissa Reiff and Raj Sisodia for their years of service on the Board. They have both made invaluable contributions and have helped position The Container Store to achieve market share growth and to double our business over time.”
Since 2014, Mr. Laday has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Fogo de Chão, where he leads the Accounting, Finance, IT and Supply Chain functions. In 2015, Mr. Laday was instrumental in the successful completion of Fogo de Chão’ s initial public offering on Nasdaq. He also helped navigate a go-private transaction in April 2018 when Rhône Capital acquired Fogo de Chão in an all-cash transaction valued at $650 million. Mr. Laday has held finance roles of increasing responsibility for a number of prominent brands prior to Fogo de Chão including Brinker International, FedEx Office, and American Airlines. In his last position at Brinker International as Vice President of International, Investor Relations, and Corporate Treasurer, Mr. Laday was instrumental in doubling the size of Brinker’s Internal Division, securing $250 million in public debt, and developing strategies to significantly improve operating margins. Mr. Laday received his BBA and MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Nicole Otto served as VP of Nike Direct North America from 2018 through May 2021. In this role, Ms. Otto oversaw Nike’s integrated physical and digital ecosystem to deliver seamless shopping journeys, online-to-offline services and experiences, and deep connections with Nike consumers throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout her career at Nike, Ms. Otto played a central role in building and leading high-performing teams and defining pinnacle mono-brand retail experiences. Before joining the North America team, Ms. Otto held several leadership roles at Nike within the digital business, both overseas and on Nike’s global team. These roles included serving as VP/GM of Digital Commerce in Europe, VP/GM of Nike.com Global Store, VP of Global Digital Commerce Operations and VP of Consumer Digital Tech. Among many other tasks, Ms. Otto expanded consumer access to Nike.com to more than 51 countries. Ms. Otto began her career at Nike in 2005 after working in Information Technology at Charles Schwab in San Francisco. She earned an MBA from St. Mary’s College of California and an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Iowa.
The Board also appointed Robert E. Jordan, currently the Company’s Lead Independent Director, to serve as Chairperson of the Board as of the conclusion of the Annual Meeting. Melissa Reiff, current Chairwoman of the Board and a Class II Director, and Rajendra (“Raj”) Sisodia, a current Class II Director, have not been nominated for reelection at the Annual Meeting.