Buy.com’s Roszak Out as Interim Chief Exec

Buy.com Inc. director James B. Roszak ended a six-month stint as interim chief executive of the unprofitable online retailer Friday, saying he’s no longer needed because founder Scott A. Blum is taking the company private.

The board appointed Chief Financial Officer Robert R. Price to serve as president of the Aliso Viejo company. Price and Keven Baxter, senior vice president of corporate development, will jointly run daily operations and report to the board, Buy.com said.

Roszak will continue to serve on the board, where he’s on the audit committee.

Buy.com, which takes orders for thousands of products over the Internet, reported a $5.7 million second-quarter loss Tuesday, the latest in a long series of deficits, and laid off 50 employees, about 40% of its remaining work force. It had fired about 100 employees earlier this year to cut costs.

The company agreed last week to be acquired by Blum for 17 cents a share and go private in a deal expected to close by Nov. 30. Its shares closed unchanged at 14 cents in over-the-counter trading.