* Michael J. Leedy Hired as Chief Marketing Officer
* Peter J. Leech Hired to Oversee Direct Marketing
* Sandy Rhodes Promoted to Senior Vice President/General Counsel
FORT MYERS, Fla., April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chico's FAS, Inc.
(NYSE: CHS) today announced two senior marketing additions and one additional
management promotion as part of its continuing effort to position the Company
for its future growth.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/CHICOLOGO )
Michael J. Leedy has joined the Company as Senior Vice President - Chief
Marketing Officer. Mr. Leedy will be reporting to Chuck Nesbit, Executive
Vice President - Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Leedy takes over responsibility
for coordinating with the senior merchandising officers for the Chico's, White
House | Black Market, Soma by Chico's, and Fitigues brands and the rest of the
Company's executive team, with the goal of developing clear positioning and
distinctive strategies for each of our brands. He will be responsible for
overseeing and directing all of the Company's marketing activities, with the
continuing objectives of sustaining our existing customer relationships and
establishing new ones. Mr. Leedy will also be responsible for developing
enhanced e-commerce capabilities for all of the Company's brands.
Mr. Leedy comes to Chico's from American Eagle Outfitters. From 1995 to
2006, he held various senior marketing positions at American Eagle, most
recently serving as its Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
At American Eagle, Mr. Leedy started and developed that company's successful
e-commerce business, ae.com. Prior to joining American Eagle, he served as
President of Method, Inc., a retail brand strategy firm and, prior to that,
held various positions with The Limited, Inc.
Peter J. Leech has joined the Company as its Vice President - Direct
Marketing. He will be reporting to Michael Leedy, our new Senior Vice
President - Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Leech will be responsible for
overseeing all facets of the Company's direct to consumer marketing and the
administration of its highly successful loyalty programs. Prior to joining
Chico's, Mr. Leech served as Group Director/EVP of Targeted Marketing for
Littlewoods Shop Direct Group, in the United Kingdom. Prior to Littlewoods,
Mr. Leech held various senior level direct marketing positions at CoolSavings
Inc., Equilum LLC, and The Partnering Group.
A. Alexander "Sandy" Rhodes has been promoted to Senior Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary, in recognition of his expanded responsibilities
associated with managing the various legal matters that our Company must
address in its daily business operations. Mr. Rhodes has served as the Vice
President-Corporate Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Company since
October 2004. He has been with the Company since January 2003, when he first
joined the Company's in-house legal staff to focus primarily on intellectual
property issues. From 1997 through December 2002, Mr. Rhodes practiced law
with the Annis Mitchell Cockey Edwards & Roehn and Carlton Fields law firms
working primarily in the areas of commercial litigation and intellectual
property.
Scott A. Edmonds, President and CEO, commented, "I am extremely pleased
that the Company's continued growth has allowed us to attract talented retail
marketing executives such as Michael Leedy and Peter Leech. I expect them to
apply their broad experience to the enhancement of our strong marketing
programs and the further development of our brand portfolio. I also
congratulate Sandy Rhodes on his well deserved promotion. Sandy has displayed
great commitment to our company since joining us in 2003, playing a key role
in helping Chico's to focus on and to address the many legal compliance issues
we are called upon to deal with in our day to day operations. Personally, I
have come to place great reliance on his skill, his dedication and his fine
counsel."
The Company is a specialty retailer of private label, sophisticated,
casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates, complementary accessories, and other
non-clothing gift items. The Company operates 786 women's specialty stores,
including stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Puerto Rico operating under the Chico's, White House | Black
Market, Soma by Chico's and Fitigues names. The Company owns 505 Chico's
front-line stores, 31 Chico's outlet stores, 200 White House | Black Market
front-line stores, 8 White House | Black Market outlet stores, 16 Soma by
Chico's stores, 11 Fitigues front-line stores and 1 Fitigues outlet store;
franchisees own and operate 14 Chico's stores.
Certain statements contained herein, including without limitation,
statements addressing the beliefs, plans, objectives, estimates or
expectations of the Company or future results or events constitute "forward-
looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements involve known
or unknown risks, including, but not limited to, general economic and business
conditions, and conditions in the specialty retail industry. There can be no
assurance that the actual future results, performance, or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur. Users of
forward-looking statements are encouraged to review the Company's latest
annual report on Form 10-K, its filings on Form 10-Q, management's discussion
and analysis in the Company's latest annual report to stockholders, the
Company's filings on Form 8-K, and other federal securities law filings for a
description of other important factors that may affect the Company's business,
results of operations and financial condition. The Company does not undertake
to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience
or future changes make it clear that projected results expressed or implied in
such statements will not be realized.
For more detailed information, please call (877) 424-4267 to listen to the
Company's monthly sales information and investor relations line
A copy of a slide show addressing the Company's recent financial results and
current plans for expansion is available on the Company's website at
http://www.chicos.com in the investor relations section
Additional investor information on Chico's FAS, Inc. is available free of
charge on the Company's website at http://www.chicos.com in the investor
relations section
Executive Contacts:
Charles J. Kleman
Chief Financial Officer
Chico's FAS, Inc.
(239) 274-4105
F. Michael Smith
Vice President
Investor and Community Relations
Chico's FAS, Inc.
(239) 274-4797
SOURCE Chico's FAS, Inc.
-0- 04/03/2006
/CONTACT: Charles J. Kleman, Chief Financial Officer, +1-239-274-4105, or
F. Michael Smith, Vice President, Investor and Community Relations,
+1-239-274-4797, both of Chico's FAS, Inc./
/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/CHICOLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, [email protected] /
/Web site: http://www.chicos.com /
(CHS)
CO: Chico's FAS, Inc.
ST: Florida
IN: REA
SU: PER
AC-DS
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2336 04/03/2006 10:49 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com