Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. Announces Appointment of Steven J. Pully as Chairman of the Board and Jean K. FitzSimon as Sr. Vice Pr
05 July 2005 - 11:20PM
Business Wire
Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. (NYSE:JWL), a national specialty retailer
of fine jewelry, announced today that current director Steven J.
Pully has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors
effective immediately. Daniel Levy, who served as Chairman stepped
down but remains on the Board. Jean K. FitzSimon has been appointed
as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary, also effective immediately. Mr. Levy commented, "I
welcome Steve's and Jean's appointments. Steve's talent, experience
and leadership will greatly enhance our Board. Jean's prior retail
and corporate compliance experience will allow her to add value
from the beginning." Mr. Pully commented, "I am excited about the
opportunities for Whitehall and look forward to working with the
Board and management to build on the strengths and traditions of
the Company. I very much appreciate Dan's recent service as
Chairman and his years of dedication to the Whitehall
organization." Mr. Pully has served as the President of Newcastle
Capital Management, L.P. since January 2003 and has been with
Newcastle Partners since December 2001. He has served as a
director, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of New Century
Equity Holdings Corp. since June 2004 and as a director of Pizza
Inn, Inc. since December 2002. From January 2003 to June 2004, he
served as Chief Executive Officer of privately-held Pinnacle Frames
and Accents, Inc., a domestic picture frame manufacturer. Prior to
joining Newcastle Capital Management, from May 2000 to December
2001, he was a managing director in the mergers and acquisitions
department of Banc of America Securities and from January 1997 to
May 2000 he worked in the investment banking department at Bear
Stearns, where he became a Senior Managing Director in 1999. Prior
to becoming an investment banker, Mr. Pully practiced securities
and corporate law at the law firm Baker & Botts. Mr. Pully is a
CPA, a member of the Texas Bar and is also a CFA charterholder. Ms.
FitzSimon served as the General Counsel and a Principal of Bridge
Associates, LLC, a New York- based consulting firm since 2002.
Prior to joining Bridge, she served in various legal roles for
Sears, Roebuck & Co., most recently as its Chief Compliance
Officer and a Vice President of the Law Department. Prior to
joining Sears, Ms. FitzSimon was in private law practice in
Phoenix, Arizona for several years. She started her legal career at
the United States Department of Justice. Ms. FitzSimon is admitted
to practice in Illinois, Arizona, the District of Columbia and New
York. She chairs the American Bar Association's Committee on
Corporate Compliance, among other professional appointments.
Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. is a national specialty retailer of fine
jewelry, operating 386 stores in 38 states. The Company operates
stores in regional and super regional shopping malls under the
names Whitehall Co. Jewellers, Lundstrom Jewelers and Marks Bros.
Jewelers. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains certain
forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in Section 27A
of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934) and information relating to the Company that
are based on the current beliefs of management of the Company as
well as assumptions made by and information currently available to
management including statements related to the markets for our
products, general trends and trends in our operations or financial
results, plans, expectations, estimates and beliefs. In addition,
when used in this release, the words "anticipate," "believe,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "predict," "opinion" and
similar expressions and their variants, as they relate to the
Company or our management, may identify forward-looking statements.
Such statements reflect our judgment as of the date of this release
with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to
certain risks, including the factors described below, which may
have a significant impact on our business, operating results or
financial condition. Investors are cautioned that these
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Should one or
more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes
may vary materially from those described herein. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. The
following factors, among others, may impact forward-looking
statements contained in this release: (1) a change in economic
conditions or the financial markets which negatively impacts the
retail sales environment and reduces discretionary spending on
goods such as jewelry; (2) reduced levels of mall traffic caused by
economic or other factors; (3) increased competition from specialty
jewelry retail stores, the Internet and mass merchant discount
stores which may adversely impact our sales and gross margin; (4)
our ability to execute our business strategy and the related
effects on comparable store sales and other results; (5) the extent
and results of our store expansion strategy and associated
occupancy costs, and access to funds for new store openings and the
ability to exit underperforming stores; (6) the high degree of
fourth quarter seasonality of our business and the impact on the
Company's sales, profitability and liquidity; (7) the extent and
success of our merchandising, marketing and/or promotional
programs; (8) personnel costs and the extent to which we are able
to retain and attract key personnel; (9) the effects of competition
on the Company including merchandise availability, real estate
opportunities and retention of personnel; (10) the availability,
terms and cost of consumer credit; (11) relationships with
suppliers including the timely delivery to the Company of
appropriate merchandise and services on payment and other terms
consistent with past practice; (12) our ability to maintain
adequate information systems capacity and infrastructure; (13) our
continued ability to secure sufficient financing on acceptable
terms, including, if an event of default were to occur pursuant to
the Company's revolving loan facility, that the Company may be
required to negotiate relief with its lenders or seek new financing
with respect to which there may be no assurance that new financing
agreements would be available on acceptable terms or at all; (14)
our leverage, liquidity, and cost of funds and changes in interest
rates that may increase such costs; (15) our ability to maintain
adequate loss prevention measures; (16) fluctuations in raw
material prices, including diamond, gem and gold prices; (17) the
impact of current or future price reductions on margins and
resultant valuation allowances taken on certain merchandise
inventory identified from time to time as items which would not be
part of the Company's future merchandise presentation as well as
alternative methods of disposition of this merchandise inventory
and resultant valuations taken; (18) developments relating to
settlement of the consolidated Capital Factors actions, the
non-prosecution agreement entered into with the United States
Attorney's Office, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") investigation, and shareholder and other civil litigation,
including the impact of such developments on our results of
operations and financial condition and relationship with our
lenders or with our vendors; (19) regulation affecting the industry
generally, including regulation of marketing practices; and (20)
the risk factors identified from time to time in our filings with
the SEC. For Investor Relations info: investorrelations@whji.com
Internet Website: www.whitehalljewellers.com
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