CEO Marla Ryan to Step Down; Board Initiates
CEO Search
Lisa Gavales Named Chair of Newly Created
Interim Office of the CEO
Company Adds Gene Davis to Board of
Directors
Destination Maternity Corporation (Nasdaq:DEST) announced today
that Marla Ryan, by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors,
will step down as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 13, 2019.
Destination Maternity also announced it has appointed Gene Davis to
its Board of Directors. Upon his appointment, Mr. Davis will serve
as Chairman of the Destination Maternity Board of Directors.
Senior Leadership Transition
Destination Maternity today announced that Marla Ryan, by mutual
agreement with the Board, will step down as Chief Executive
Officer, effective June 13, 2019. Ms. Ryan will remain with the
Company to assist with the transition and will also assume a new
role as President of product design, sourcing and
merchandising.
The Destination Maternity Board has created an interim Office of
the CEO, which will provide ongoing leadership and oversight of the
day-to-day operations of the Company while a search is conducted
for a new CEO. The interim Office of the CEO will be comprised of
Lisa Gavales, a member of the Board of Directors, Marla Ryan, now
President of product design, sourcing and merchandising and Dave
Helkey, current CFO and COO. Ms. Gavales will serve as Chair of the
Office of the CEO.
Lisa Gavales, a member of Destination Maternity’s Board of
Directors, said, “As the Company strives to improve its performance
and deliver profitable growth, the Board of Directors unanimously
determined that the Company would benefit from new leadership and
enhanced execution. In addition to beginning an active and
immediate search for a new permanent CEO, the Board will also
conduct a comprehensive review of the Company’s strategic
initiatives to ensure that the Company is pursuing an aggressive
strategy to effect real and sizeable change in the business.”
Ms. Gavales added, “We would also like to thank Marla for her
tireless efforts and dedication as CEO of Destination Maternity and
we look forward to her continued contributions as she moves into
her new role with the Company.”
New Board Member
Destination Maternity also announced today that Gene Davis will
join its Board of Directors, effective June 13, 2019, serving as
Chairman of the Destination Maternity Board of Directors.
“We are thrilled to be adding Gene to the Board,” said Ms.
Gavales. “Gene is a uniquely talented executive who brings highly
relevant turnaround management and strategic planning experience
that will be valuable to the Board as we look to strengthen the
business and drive long term shareholder value. We look forward to
his immediate contributions.”
Currently, Mr. Davis serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of PIRINATE Consulting Group, LLC, a privately held
consulting firm specializing in turnaround management, merger and
acquisition consulting, hostile and friendly takeovers, proxy
contests and strategic planning advisory services for domestic and
international public and private business entities. Mr. Davis’
career includes extensive retail experience. He has advised,
managed and served in various senior leadership positions in the
retail space throughout his career, specializing in difficult
turnaround situations with a focus on maximizing shareholder value.
He was the President, Vice Chairman and a director of Emerson Radio
Corporation, a consumer electronics company, from 1990 to 1997 and
was the Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of Sport Supply
Group, Inc., a direct-mail marketer of sports equipment, from 1996
to 1997.
Mr. Davis began his career in 1980 as an attorney and
international negotiator with Exxon Corporation and Standard Oil
Company (Indiana) and was in private practice from 1984 to 1998.
Mr. Davis is and has also been a director of several private and
public companies in various industries.
About Destination Maternity
Destination Maternity is the leading designer and omni-channel
retailer of maternity apparel in the United States, with the only
nationwide chain of maternity apparel specialty stores, as well as
a deep and expansive assortment available through multiple online
distribution points, including our three brand-specific websites.
As of May 4, 2019, we operate 998 retail locations, including 452
stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and 546 leased
departments located within department stores and baby specialty
stores throughout the United States and Canada. We also sell our
merchandise on the Internet, primarily through our Motherhood.com,
APeaInThePod.com and DestinationMaternity.com websites. We also
sell our merchandise through our Canadian website,
MotherhoodCanada.ca, through Amazon.com in the United States, and
through websites of certain of our retail partners, including
Macys.com. Our 452 stores operate under three retail nameplates:
Motherhood Maternity®, A Pea in the Pod® and Destination
Maternity®. We also operate 546 leased departments within leading
retailers such as Macy’s®, buybuy BABY® and Boscov’s®. Generally,
we are the exclusive maternity apparel provider in our leased
department locations.
Forward-Looking Statements
The Company cautions that any forward-looking statements (as
such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995) contained in this press release or made from time to
time by management of the Company, including those regarding
earnings, net sales, comparable sales, other results of operations,
liquidity and financial condition, and various business
initiatives, involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to
change based on various important factors. The following factors,
among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could
affect the Company's financial performance and actual results and
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements: the
strength or weakness of the retail industry in general and of
apparel purchases in particular, our ability to successfully manage
our various business initiatives, the success of our international
business and its expansion, our ability to successfully manage and
retain our leased department and international franchise
relationships and marketing partnerships, future sales trends in
our various sales channels, unusual weather patterns, changes in
consumer spending patterns, raw material price increases, overall
economic conditions and other factors affecting consumer
confidence, demographics and other macroeconomic factors that may
impact the level of spending for apparel (such as fluctuations in
pregnancy rates and birth rates), expense savings initiatives, our
ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends and consumer
preferences, unanticipated fluctuations in our operating results,
the impact of competition and fluctuations in the price,
availability and quality of raw materials and contracted products,
availability of suitable store locations, continued availability of
capital and financing, our ability to hire, develop and retain
senior management and sales associates, our ability to develop and
source merchandise, our ability to receive production from foreign
sources on a timely basis, our compliance with applicable financial
and other covenants under our financing arrangements, potential
debt prepayments, the trading liquidity of our common stock,
changes in market interest rates, our compliance with certain tax
incentive and abatement programs, war or acts of terrorism and
other factors set forth in the Company's periodic filings with the
SEC, or in materials incorporated therein by reference.
Although it is believed that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be
given that such expectations will prove to have been correct and
persons reading this announcement are therefore cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which
speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company assumes
no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this
announcement (whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise), except as required by applicable law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190612005913/en/
Sloane & CompanyErica Bartsch / Alex Kovtun,
212-486-9500Ebartsch@sloanepr.com / Akovtun@sloanepr.com
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