Fred's, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved key changes in its top leadership, including the appointment of Joseph Anto as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Anto had previously served as Interim Chief Executive Officer since April 2018 and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since February 2018. In addition, the Board approved the appointments of Ritwik Chatterjee as Chief Financial Officer, Nathaniel Klein as Chief Operating Officer and Michael Ladd as Chief Stores Officer.

The appointments of each of Messrs. Anto, Chatterjee, Klein and Ladd were effective as of February 3, 2019, the first day of the Company 2019 fiscal year. Mr. Anto was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Company in February 2018, and he was named Interim Chief Executive Officer in April 2018.

Mr. Chatterjee joined Fred as Vice President of Finance in June 2018 and was named Senior Vice President of Corporate Development in September 2018. Mr. Klein joined Fred in April 2018 as Senior Vice President of Finance. Mr. Ladd joined Fred as Executive Vice President of Store Operations in January 2018.