Big Lots has appointed Stephen M. Haffer as Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer. Haffer will be a member of the company’s Executive Leadership team and hold primary responsibility for customer engagement and messaging touchpoints, including marketing, advertising, brand development, and e-commerce. Haffer was previously an executive at American Signature, the parent company of Value City Furniture and American Signature Home stores. Over more than 25 years with that company, he held various roles in marketing, e-commerce, IT and business development. Heffer was named American Signature’s Chief Innovation Officer in 2016. James R. Chambers, non-executive Chairman of the Board of Big Lots, stated, “[Haffer’s] impressive background as a marketing executive with extensive experience in e-commerce and customer engagement and acquisition, most notably in the furniture industry, will be instrumental as we strategize to grow our business. We look forward to his leadership as we reposition our brand…and execute the multiyear rollout of our Store of the Future initiative.” Big Lots is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio and operates 1,416 stores in 47 states. In its latest financial statement, for the third quarter of 2017, the company guided for full-year 2017 comp growth of 1% and a 2% increase in total sales. Comparable store sales rose by 1% in the third quarter, compared with a 1.6% consensus estimate. Top-performing businesses during the quarter were home, furniture and consumables. Management said that it will continue to focus on improving merchandise presentations; winnable merchandise categories; offering more consistent, friendly customer service; and in-store execution.