Leslie's Leadership Transition: How Moyo LaBode's Exit Shapes the Retailer's Future

In mid-2025, Leslie’s, Inc. announced a significant executive reshuffle that sent ripples through the retail and investment community. The departure of Moyo LaBode, the company’s Chief Merchandising and Supply Chain Officer, marked a critical moment in the pool and spa care retailer’s ongoing transformation. His exit on July 15, 2025, set the stage for Amy College to step into the role, effective July 20, 2025. This leadership transition has become a focal point for understanding Leslie’s strategic direction and market positioning heading into a crucial growth phase.

Understanding the Executive Shift: Why Moyo LaBode Left and What Comes Next

The timing of Moyo LaBode’s departure raises important questions about Leslie’s operational trajectory. While the company framed the change as a planned transition aligned with strategic priorities, the rapid succession—just five days between LaBode’s exit and College’s start date—suggests a carefully orchestrated handoff. LaBode’s tenure coincided with Leslie’s efforts to stabilize supply chain operations amid broader retail headwinds, a period that tested both the company’s resilience and its leadership capabilities.

The departure of a supply chain executive during periods of market volatility often signals either strategic recalibration or recognition that new skill sets are required for the next phase. In Leslie’s case, the replacement strategy points toward the latter. The company operates over 1,000 physical locations alongside a growing digital platform, requiring leadership that spans both traditional retail operations and e-commerce expertise—areas where Moyo LaBode’s background may have had limitations.

Amy College’s Track Record: Retail Operations and Supply Chain Expertise

Amy College brings a 25-year track record in retail operations that directly addresses Leslie’s priorities. Most recently, she served as Chief Merchandising and Supply Chain Officer at Petco, where she managed category merchandising, enterprise demand planning, visual merchandising, owned brand product development, and sourcing and distribution operations. Before Petco, College spent over 20 years at Best Buy, where she progressed through increasingly senior roles in category management and merchandising, ultimately becoming Chief Category Officer for home theater, smart home, digital imaging, and appliances.

What makes College’s appointment noteworthy is the consistency of her focus on digital marketplace integration and omnichannel operations—both critical gaps that may have prompted Moyo LaBode’s departure. At both Petco and Best Buy, she navigated the complex challenge of balancing physical retail with digital transformation, the exact mandate she now faces at Leslie’s. Her background suggests the company is pivoting toward emphasizing digital channels as a revenue driver, moving beyond traditional pool and spa retail.

Market Reaction: How Investors and Analysts View the Leadership Change

The investment community’s response to Leslie’s executive changes has been decidedly cautious. According to Wall Street analyst reports from early 2025, the sentiment on Leslie’s stock has tilted negative. Bank of America Securities issued an “Underperform” rating, while Stifel maintained a “Sell” rating—signals that broader concerns about the company’s market position extend beyond any single executive change.

Insider trading activity during this period reveals an interesting dynamic. From January through mid-2025, several Leslie’s insiders made significant purchases: JOHN STRAIN bought 150,000 shares for approximately $118,500, ANTHONY A ISKANDER purchased nearly 64,000 shares for roughly $49,900, and SUSAN C OFARRELL acquired 31,500 shares for about $25,200. These moves suggest confidence among company insiders despite the broader analyst skepticism, though the relatively modest purchase volumes raise questions about the depth of that confidence.

At the institutional level, the picture has been more turbulent. In Q1 2025, BlackRock significantly reduced its Leslie’s holdings by 55.5%, liquidating approximately 16.3 million shares worth roughly $12 million. State Street also cut its position by 56.3%, selling 4.7 million shares. These major reductions contradict the insider buying narrative, suggesting that large asset managers have different risk assessments than company executives regarding Leslie’s prospects.

The analyst price targets, meanwhile, paint a pessimistic outlook. Across seven analyst reports issued during this period, the median price target for Leslie’s stock settled at $1.40, with some analysts (Mizuho, Loop Capital) setting targets as low as $1.00. Only one analyst, Goldman Sachs’ Kate McShane, maintained a notably bullish $3.00 target. These disparate forecasts reflect fundamental disagreement about whether Amy College’s appointment and operational changes can reverse Leslie’s recent underperformance.

What’s Next for Leslie’s Digital Transformation?

The appointment of Amy College signals a company determined to accelerate its digital marketplace capabilities. Beyond traditional merchandising responsibilities, College will oversee Leslie’s emerging e-commerce operations—a mandate that suggests leadership under Moyo LaBode may have underweighted digital priorities. For a company founded in 1963 and still generating significant revenue from 1,000-plus physical stores, the pivot toward digital represents both opportunity and execution risk.

Leslie’s CEO Jason McDonell emphasized this in his public statement, highlighting College’s ability to “deliver against our transformation initiatives” and “accelerate our progress” through “cross-functional collaboration.” These themes—transformation, acceleration, and collaboration—suggest the company recognizes that legacy retail structures alone cannot sustain competitive advantage in a market increasingly dominated by direct-to-consumer brands and rapid-fulfillment models.

The real test of this leadership transition will unfold over the next 12-18 months. Can Amy College replicate the digital success she achieved at Petco and Best Buy within Leslie’s more specialized market? Will the company’s supply chain, historically a constraint for many retailers, become a competitive advantage under her direction? And perhaps most critically, can this executive change arrest the negative sentiment that prompted both major institutional selloffs and conservative analyst price targets? Only time—and quarterly earnings reports—will reveal whether Moyo LaBode’s departure marks the beginning of Leslie’s recovery or the precursor to deeper challenges ahead.