Goody's Family Clothing Recruits Three New Executives to Leadership Ranks

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Goody's (Goody's Holdings Inc.), a retailer of moderately priced family apparel, has appointed three new executives to leadership posts within the company. Gary Yiatchos joins the company as senior vice president and chief marketing officer; Thomas Hughes as senior vice president of human resources; and Lori Horn as group vice president -- merchandising.

These appointments come under the leadership of Chuck Turlinski, who joined Goody's in early 2007 as chief executive officer. Turlinski wants to maximize every opportunity to strengthen Goody's across all departments. These new appointments supplement the bench strength created by Mary Kwan, who joined the company as president and chief merchandising officer in October 2006.

Gary Yiatchos brings a wide range of marketing experience that spans a 30-year career in retail apparel to Goody's. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of Parisian, formerly part of the Saks Department Store Group, where he spent four years positioning the unique and distinctive brand while driving annual store sales and increasing the division's operating profit. He also served as executive vice president of marketing for the Saks Department Store Group, where Yiatchos re-engineered the company's customer loyalty programs, including the development of a cobrand rewards card. Yiatchos will oversee the company's marketing and branding efforts.

For the past three years, Thomas Hughes held the position of director of recruitment and staffing at Chico's FAS Inc., including Chico's, White House | Black Market and SOMA. Hughes handled recruitment and staffing for each of Chico's FAS Inc. brands and functions, including merchandising, product development, production, finance, IT, human resources and others. Hughes spent the 10 years prior to Chico's with Limited Brands in several roles, including director of manufacturing staffing and director of human resources. Hughes will be responsible for the human resources division, encompassing both the stores and corporate office, including recruiting, benefits and training, and development.

Lori Horn joins Goody's as group vice president -- merchandising. In over 10 years with Limited Brands, Horn held several positions, including vice president merchandise manager for Victoria's Secret Direct, merchandising more than 50 catalogs per year, both private-label and branded products. Horn also built the jeans wear division at Express as merchandise manager. She will oversee the launch of a newly branded clothing line and other areas of merchandising.

"We are thrilled to have Gary, Thomas and Lori join our team during this important time in our company's future," said Chuck Turlinski. "The strengths that each bring to Goody's will be instrumental as we continue to reposition our brand, recruit extraordinary talent and provide the highest-quality and trend-forward merchandise for our customers."

"During the past year, Goody's has undertaken some significant and positive changes," said Isaac Dabah, chairman of Goody's and director of GMM Capital. "The progress to date is remarkable, and I am confident that the executive team we have assembled will prove successful for the company."

Goody's targets value-conscious customers and provides a broad selection of merchandise, featuring labels such as Adidas, Alfred Dunner, Arrow, Carter's, Dockers, G.H. Bass, l.e.i., Lee, Levi's, Nike, Reebok, Requirements, U.S. Polo Association and Zana-Di. It is also the exclusive retailer of Duck Head.

To complement these brand names, Goody's has introduced its own private-label clothing lines for men, women and children. The signature lines include Ivy Crew for men; Mountain Lake for women; OCI for juniors, young men and children; and Baby Crew for infants and toddlers. With departments for each member of the family, Goody's provides a wide assortment of active, casual and career wear in a variety of colors and sizes for all body types.

About Goody's Family Clothing

With headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn., Goody's is a retailer of moderately priced family apparel, operating more than 380 stores in 21 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Goody's Holdings Inc. is a privately held company owned by GMM Capital LLC and PGDYS LLC; Prentice Capital Management is the managing member of PGDYS. For more information on Goody's, visit shopgoodys.com.