Redbox president Anne Saunders has left the job after a little more than a year in the role — one piece of a broader shakeup announced this morning at Coinstar and Redbox parent company Outerwall.
The Bellevue, Wash., company is also exiting three of its emerging kiosk ventures and cutting 251 jobs in an effort to reduce costs and shore up its business.
Among the Outerwall ventures getting the axe: The Rubi, a self-service coffee kiosk that was rolled out last year under a partnership with Seattle’s Best Coffee, a unit of Starbucks. Also being cut are the Crisp Market fresh food kiosk, and the Star Studio photo booth.
The company says it will continue to invest in Coinstar, Redbox and its ecoATM device recycling kiosks. The company says it will also continue to make limited investments in its Sampleit kiosks.
“This comprehensive review reaffirms our confidence in Outerwall’s solid foundation, notably our core Coinstar and Redbox businesses and the company’s strong cash flows,” said Outerwall CEO Scott Di Valerio in a news release. “At the same time, ecoATM provides the potential for another meaningful pillar in our automated retail platform, and we believe SAMPLEit merits a continued investment based on the potential we see in the business. By focusing on the new ventures with the greatest opportunity, we expect to move toward breakeven segment operating results more quickly.”
The 251 job cuts represent an 8.5 percent reduction in Outerwall’s workforce.
The company didn’t give a reason for Saunders’ departure. Redbox’s existing executive team will manage the company until a replacement is found.
Redbox has been growing its share of the physical rental market and expanding into digital distribution with its Redbox Instant streaming video venture with Verizon.
In a statement, a company representative said the changes don’t affect those plans. “Anne’s departure does not have any impact on our plans for Redbox Instant. We continue to see a great opportunity for this business, but will closely monitor its performance to ensure we are getting the right levels of returns.”
