American Apparel, Inc. (Amex: APP) announced that effective immediately,
William T. Gochnauer has joined the company as Interim Chief Financial
Officer.
Prior to American Apparel, Mr. Gochnauer had been Interim Chief
Financial Officer at Red Envelope, Inc., a publicly traded national
catalog and online retailer of upscale gifts, since 2006. From 2005 to
2006, Mr. Gochnauer had been a financial consultant at Excelligence
Learning Corporation, a publicly traded national manufacturer and
distributor of early childhood and learning products. During 2005, he
was also Interim Chief Financial Officer of RF Industries Ltd., a
publicly traded, national manufacturer and distributor of electronic
components. Mr. Gochnauer began his career in public accounting at KPMG,
is a Certified Public Accountant, and has held CFO and controller
positions at a number of public and private companies over the course of
a career that spans more than 35 years.
Ken Cieply, the company’s outgoing Chief
Financial Officer, has stepped down to pursue other opportunities. He
has agreed to make himself available to assist in the transition. Mr.
Cieply has over 20 years of experience in textile and apparel related
businesses, and was a key member of the executive team that led Gildan
Activewear’s successful initial public
offering in 1998. Mr. Cieply joined American Apparel in June 2006.
American Apparel also announced that it has retained Berglass +
Associates, an executive search firm with more than 25 years of
experience and a focus in the consumer goods sector, to help identify a
permanent Chief Financial Officer. In anticipation of Mr. Cieply’s
departure, American Apparel has been interviewing candidates for the CFO
position for the past several months. The company expects to announce
the appointment of a permanent CFO in the next three to six months.
Dov Charney, American Apparel’s CEO stated, “We’re
very pleased that Bill Gochnauer is joining us to assist in our
transition in being a public company. Bill’s
extensive experience with SEC reporting and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
will be an enormous help. With him onboard, we will be able to more
quickly build out our accounting staff to support the company’s
increased reporting responsibilities and the future growth of our
business.”
Mr. Charney continued, “Ken Cieply played an
important role in getting American Apparel to where it is today. His
impressive pedigree in apparel was a key reason I asked him two years
ago to come down to Los Angeles to help take our business to the next
level. With American Apparel now having become a public company, we wish
Ken well in his future endeavors as he returns to his family and home in
Montreal, Canada.”
About American Apparel
American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor,
and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel based in downtown Los
Angeles, California. As of May 15, 2008, American Apparel employed over
7,000 people and operated 187 retail stores in 15 countries, including
the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Belgium, France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia,
Japan and South Korea. American Apparel also operates a leading
wholesale business that supplies high quality T-shirts and other casual
wear to distributors and screen printers. In addition to its retail
stores and wholesale operations, American Apparel operates an online
retail e-commerce website at http://store.americanapparel.net.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release, and other statements that American Apparel, Inc. may
make, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are statements that are not historical facts and include
statements regarding, among other things, the company's future financial
condition and results of operations and the company's prospects and
strategies for future growth. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "trend,"
"potential," "opportunity," "believe," "comfortable," "expect,"
"anticipate," "current," "intention," "estimate," "position," "assume,"
"outlook," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "sustain," "seek,"
"achieve," and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such
as "will," "would," "should," "could," "may" and similar expressions.
Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and
expectations of American Apparel's management, but are subject to risks
and uncertainties, which could cause actual results and/or the timing of
events to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements. American Apparel cautions that forward-looking statements
are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which
change over time. Actual results could differ materially from those
anticipated in forward-looking statements and future results could
differ materially from historical performance. The following factors,
among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth
in forward-looking statements: business conditions, including risks
associated with foreign markets, international business and online
retail operations, increases in materials or labor costs and employee
matters; the company's relationships with its lenders and its ability to
comply with the terms of its existing credit facilities; changing
interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles; changes in
the overall level of consumer spending; changes in preferences in
apparel or the acceptance of the company's products and the company's
ability to anticipate such changes; the performance of the company's
products within the prevailing retail environment; availability of store
locations at appropriate terms and our ability to open new stores and
expand internationally; the possibility that the company's suppliers and
manufacturers may not timely produce or deliver the company's products;
financial non-performance by the company's customers, primarily in the
wholesale business; inquiries and investigations and related litigation;
continued compliance with U.S. and foreign government regulations;
legislation or regulatory environments; requirements or changes
adversely affecting the business in which the company is engaged;
fluctuations in customer demand; management of rapid growth; intensity
of competition, both domestic and foreign, from other apparel providers;
changes in key personnel; costs as a result of operating as a public
company; general economic conditions; increases in interest rates;
geopolitical events and regulatory changes; as well as other relevant
risks detailed in the other filings that the company makes with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov.
You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the
forward-looking statements herein and are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in
their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the
company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking
statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
