Todd M. Abbrecht
Managing Director
Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P

Todd M. Abbrecht is a Managing Director at THL. Prior to joining THL, Mr. Abbrecht worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of Credit Suisse First Boston.

Mr. Abbrecht is currently a Director of Aramark Corporation, Dunkin’ Brands, Inc., Michael Foods, Inc., Simmons Company and Warner Chilcott Corporation (NASDAQ: WCRX). His prior directorships include National Waterworks, Inc. and Affordable Residential Communities, Inc (NYSE:ARC).

Mr. Abbrecht holds a B.S.E. in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

 

Marty Albertson
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Guitar Center Inc.

Marty Albertson has been with Guitar Center since 1979. Mr. Albertson joined Guitar Center as a salesperson and has held various positions of increasing responsibility with Guitar Center since that time. In 1980, he served as Advertising Director and in 1984 became National Sales Manager. Thereafter, in 1985 Mr. Albertson became Vice President of Corporate Development, and became the Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 1987. From 1990 to 1999, Mr. Albertson served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1999, Mr. Albertson became our President and Co-Chief Executive Officer. In 2004, Mr. Albertson became our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Albertson was elected a director in 1996.

 

Peter Boneparth
Former CEO, Jones Apparel Group 
Current Member of the Board of Directors, Kohls Corporation 
Current Member of the Board of Directors, Jet Blue Corporation

EXPERIENCE

2001 – 2007 Jones Apparel Group, Inc.

2002 – 2007 Chief Executive Officer and Board Member

2001 – 2002 President, Moderate pision and Board Member

1997 – 2002 McNaugton Apparel Group, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman

1987 – 1997 Mabon Nugent & Co.

1994 – 1997 Head of Investment Banking and Member of the Board

1990 – 1994 Managing Director, Investment Banking

1987 – 1990 Vice President, Investment Banking

1984 – 1987 Shea & Gould, Associate

EDUCATION

1984 JD, University of Virginia

1980 BA, Economics/Political Science, Phi Beta Kappa -    junior year, University of North Carolina

BOARDS

Jay Baker Retailing Initiative – Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 2004 – Present

Kohl’s Corporation, Board Member 2008

University of North Carolina, Board of Visitors, 2002 – 2004 

Lawrence Woodmere Academy, Board of Trustees, 1994 – Present

President of the Board, 1998 - Present

PERSONAL

Age: 49, Married, Three children, ages 14, 18 and 20

 

Neil Cole
Chairman & CEO 
Iconix Brand Group

Neil Cole entered the fashion business in 1977 when he joined El Greco, Inc., a footwear company founded by his father, Charles Cole. While working there, Cole attended Hofstra law school and continued working in the family business upon graduation. In 1979 El Greco became one of the hottest junior shoe companies after introducing a brand called Candie’s®. Cole contributed to the company’s success through marketing and licensing, and became president in 1983. By 1984 sales grew to $130 million.

In 1985 Cole left El Greco to start a licensing company called New Retail Concepts. Using the Candie’s brand as a blueprint, Cole created the No Excuses brand to be licensed to jeanswear, footwear and accessories manufacturers and created an advertising campaign that featured notorious personalities including Donna Rice and Marla Maples. By 1991, No Excuses had sales of over $100 million.

Later that year, Cole sold No Excuses and bought back El Greco, Inc., which had been sold to Pentland. Sales had dwindled and Cole restructured the ailing company, taking it public as Candie’s, Inc. in 1993. Candie’s capitalized on the casual trend by providing fashionable footwear to teens at moderate prices. In 1996 when fashion dictated the comeback of the slide, Cole reintroduced Candie’s most famous style and brought TV funny girl Jenny McCarthy on board and created a series of now infamous advertisements. Over the next few years, Candie’s continued to be associated with celebrities, including Fergie, Hilary Duff, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Destiny’s Child and many others.

In 2003, Candie’s made a strategic decision to further leverage its licensing and marketing expertise by pesting itself of its operating businesses. Throughout 2004, the Company continued transforming, emerging as a licensing and marketing company. The Company launched the next phase of its strategic plan to create a persified portfolio of elite brands and leveraged the company’s marketing and licensing expertise by acquiring luxury brand Badgley Mischka.

In 2005, Candie’s became Iconix Brand Group, Inc. and the company was restructured from an operator to a brand management firm. Over the past three and a half years Iconix Brand Group, Inc. has acquired Joe Boxer®, Rampage®, Mudd®, London Fog®, Mossimo®, OP®, Danskin® and Rocawear®, Cannon®, Royal Velvet®, Fieldcrest®, Charisma®, Starter ® and Waverly®. Iconix currently has approximately 225 licenses in the apparel, accessories, home and beauty categories. The unique brand management business model positions Iconix and Neil Cole as innovators in the licensing field.

 

Jane D. Goldstein
Partner
Ropes & Gray LLP

Ms. Goldstein, a partner at Ropes & Gray since 1998 and the head of the firm’s Retail & Consumer Brands Group, advises a wide range of public and private companies on a variety of issues. Ms. Goldstein specializes in mergers & acquisitions, securities law, including public offerings, and private equity investments.  Representative clients include The Timberland Company, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Domino’s Pizza and Berkshire Partners.  In addition, she has a considerable amount of experience counseling U.S. companies in the retail and consumer products industry.  Ms. Goldstein received a B.A. from Boston University in 1982 and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Boston University School of Law in 1989. 

 

Michael Goldstein
Former Chairman & CEO
Toys "R" Us, Inc.

Michael Goldstein, former Chairman of the board of Toys “R” Us Inc., was involved with Toys “R” Us for over 20 years serving as Chief Executive Officer from 1994 to 1997.  Prior to 1983, he was Senior Executive Vice President-Operations and Finance of Lerner Stores Corporation.  Preceding that, he was a Partner of Ernst & Young in New York.

A magna cum laude graduate of Queens College with a B.S. in Economics, Mr. Goldstein was the recipient of the Haskins Gold Medal for achieving the highest score in the CPA examination in the State of New York.

He is Director of Charming Shoppes (OTC), 4 Kids Entertainment (NYSE), Martha Stewart Omnimedia (NYSE), Medco Health Solutions (NYSE) and, Pacific Sunwear (OTC).

He is Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of the Israel Discount Bank of New York and is on the board of two other non-public companies, MultiPlan (majority owned by Carlyle) and WebLoyalty.com (majority owned by General Atlantic).

He is Chairman of the Board of the 92nd Street Y, and serves on the board of the For All Kids Foundation and USTA Tennis and Education Foundation.  Mr. Goldstein is President and Director of the Northside Center for Child Development.

Mr. Goldstein, appointed by President George W. Bush, served on ACTPN (Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations) from 2003-2004 and has been honored by the A.L.S. Foundation, The Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, United Jewish Appeal and B’nai Brith, the NAACP, the Genetic Disease Foundation, The New York Restoration Project, the Video Game Industry, Discount Store Industry and is in the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.

 

Lee Helman
Managing Director
Financo, Inc.

Lee Helman has over 12 years of investment banking expertise in multi-channel retailing. Mr. Helman has experience working with B2C and B2B catalogers, e-tailers, direct television marketers, direct mailers, specialty retailers and direct selling companies.  He advises buyers and sellers in structuring and negotiating M&A transactions and also has broad experience raising private equity and debt for his clients.  He also has experience working with both public and family owned businesses.

His past clients include Cornerstone Brands, Crosstown Traders, Creative Homeowner, dELiA*s, EMED Co., Inc., eToys Direct, Fingerhut Companies, Inc., General Electric Capital Corporation, Sandvik AS, as well as leading private equity firms, including Catterton Partners, CCMP Capital Partners (f/k/a JPMorgan Partners), Madison Dearborn Partners, Wasserstein & Co. and Weston Presidio.

Prior to joining Financo in 2006 Mr. Helman held the following positions:

Managing Director at Gruppo, Levey & Co.
Chief Financial Officer at Polo Jeans Company, a pision of Sun Apparel, Inc.
Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young LLP real estate group

Mr. Helman earned a Masters in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business at Boston University in 1993. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Tufts University in 1992.

In 2008, Mr. Helman was named to the Investment Dealers’ Digest Top 40 Under 40 list.

Mr. Helman resides in Harrison, NY with his wife and 3 children.

 

Craig J. Hoffman
Managing Director
NexCen Brands, Inc.

Craig J. Hoffman is the Managing Director of M&A for NexCen Brands, Inc a brand ownership and management company.  At NexCen, he was most recently the President of Bill Blass, a luxury designer apparel business where he oversaw all aspects of the brand, until its recent sale.  Prior to this position, he lead the acquisition group of NexCen, which acquired consumer product and retail brands in the apparel, home, and quick service retail industries.  His career has included operating and financing growth companies within multiple industries, mergers and acquisitions of more than $1 billion of cumulative transaction value, and public accounting.  Before joining NexCen Brands, Mr. Hoffman founded Hoffman & Company and served as a principal dedicated to private investing in growth stage companies, corporate turnarounds and distressed debt.  Prior to Hoffman & Company, Mr. Hoffman was a managing member of Terra Nova Capital Partners in their early-stage technology and retail-focused private equity group.  He began his career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen, where he served as a senior tax consultant.  Mr. Hoffman holds an MBA from Columbia School of Business, where he graduated Betta Gamma Sigma, and a BA in Accountancy from Furman University.

 

Sandra Horbach 
Managing Director and Head of Consumer and Retail Sector Group
Carlyle Group

Sandra Horbach is a Managing Director and Head of the Consumer/Retail Group at The Carlyle Group.  The Carlyle Group is a global private equity investment firm with approximately $89 billion under management.  The firm invests in management-led buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings.

Ms. Horbach currently serves on the board of directors of the following companies: Dunkin’ Brands, the leading QSR company operating under the Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo’s brands; Oriental Trading Company, a leading direct seller of value-priced novelty items and party supplies; and philosophy, a premium skin and personal care products company.  In addition, she serves as a member of the Executive Committee & Board of Trustees at Rockefeller University, Chair of the Investment Committee at Rockefeller University and the Board of Trustees of The Chapin School in New York.  Ms. Horbach is a former member of the Stanford Business School Advisory Council.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Horbach served as a General Partner of Forstmann Little (“FL”), a private investment firm that has invested $15 billion in 30 acquisitions since it was founded in 1978.  She joined FL as an Associate in 1987, and became a General Partner in 1993.  Prior to joining FL, Ms. Horbach spent two years in the mergers and acquisition department of Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.  She received her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

 

David J. Oddi
Principal
Goode Partners LLC

Mr. Oddi is a Founding Partner of Goode Partners LLC, a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on investment opportunities in the retail, restaurant, apparel, direct marketing, and branded consumer product sectors. The firm has established itself as a partner of choice to entrepreneurs by leveraging its unique combination of investment capital, a team of professionals with experience investing in and operating some of the world's premiere consumer brands and an extensive industry network. With offices in New York City and Los Angeles, Goode seeks to partner with the managers of well-positioned, high-growth potential consumer-oriented companies. Goode completed fundraising on its inaugural, $225 million fund in August 2007 and to date has completed six investments.

Prior to the founding of Goode Partners, Mr. Oddi was a partner with Saunders Karp & Megrue, LLC. When Mr. Oddi joined SKM in 1994, he was the seventh professional to join, and the firm had $100 million invested in four companies. During Mr. Oddi’s tenure, the firm grew to manage over $1.5 billion in three funds. Mr. Oddi specialized in the retail, restaurant and consumer sectors and completed 11 platform and four add-on investments totaling approximately $250 million of invested equity capital.

Mr. Oddi currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Chuy’s Comida Deluxe, Luxury Optical Holdings, Intermix, Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic, Rosa Mexicano and Strike Holdings. Former board of director memberships include Capital IQ, Charlotte Russe Holding (NASDAQ: CHIC), The Children’s Place (NASDAQ: PLCE), Elephant Bar Restaurants, Mimi’s Café, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Rue 21 and Tommy Bahama.

Mr. Oddi is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

George Peinado
Managing Director
Madison Dearborn Partners

George A. Peinado, Managing Director - A.B., Stanford University; M.B.A., The Tuck School at Dartmouth College. Prior to joining MDP, Mr. Peinado was with DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Morgan Stanley & Co. Mr. Peinado concentrates on investments in the consumer sector and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Wm. Bolthouse Farms, CDW Corporation, The Yankee Candle Company, Inc., and The Chicago Botanic Garden.

 

Jeff Perlman
Partner
LNK Partners

Jeff brings a combination of 9 years of private equity and 3 years of operating experience to the LNK team.  Prior to LNK, Jeff was a Principal at Apax Partners where he was instrumental in founding the global firm’s U.S. consumer and retail group, participating in such high profile transactions as PVH’s acquisition of Calvin Klein.  Before joining Apax, Jeff was an Associate at GE Equity, the private equity pision of General Electric. Jeff's operating experiences include working as Manager of Corporate Finance for ITT Corporation, the parent company of Sheraton Hotels, Caesars Palace Casinos and Madison Square Garden.  Jeff began his career as an Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions group of Smith Barney.

Jeff is currently on the Board of Directors of Au Bon Pain.  Jeff received an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Jonathan A. Seiffer
Partner
Leonard Green & Partners

Jon joined LGP in 1994. Previously he worked in corporate finance at DLJ in Los Angeles.

Jon presently serves on the Board of Directors of Arrow Group Industries, Inc., AsianMedia Group LLC, David's Bridal, Inc., HITS, Inc., Motorsport Aftermarket Group, Scitor Corporation, The Sports Authority, Inc., The Tire Rack, Inc., Varsity Brands, Inc., and Whole Foods Market.

Jon has served on the Board of Directors of Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation, Diamond Triumph Auto Glass, Inc., Dollar Financial Group, Inc., Gart Sports Company, Liberty Group Publishing, Inc., and White Cap Industries, Inc.

He earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Thomas Taylor
Managing Director
Sun Capital Partners, Inc.

Thomas V. Taylor, Managing Director, has had extensive operating and merchandising experience having spent twenty-three years with The Home Depot Companies, most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Merchandising and CMO. Mr. Taylor began his career with The Home Depot at age 16, working as a part-time Associate in the outside garden department of a store in Miami, Florida. He quickly rose through organization assuming increasing levels of managerial and executive responsibility. From Department Head, he became Assistant Store Manager, Store Manager, and at age 26, District Manager. In 1996, he was promoted to Regional Vice President in the Southwest pision, our youngest Officer. Three years later, he transferred to the Northwest pision as Merchandising Vice President and six months later was named pision President of the Northwest. In December 2001, he was elevated to President of the Eastern pision when the Southeast and Northern pisions were combined to create the new Eastern pision, Home Depot's largest pision with over 650 stores. From December 2004 to August 2005, Taylor assumed the newly-created role of Executive Vice President, a position responsible for all U.S. and Mexican stores. In August 2005, he was appointed Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing with direct reports in merchandising, marketing, advertising, logistics, and international global sourcing.

 

Dana Telsey
CEO & Chief Research Officer
Telsey Advisory Group

Dana Telsey is the CEO and Chief Research Officer of TAG. Ms. Telsey has followed over 70 companies during her 24-year career and was the only U.S. based analyst to provide complete analysis of the European  luxury goods sector. From 1994 to 2006, Ms. Telsey was at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. covering the retail sector, most recently as a Senior Managing Director. Prior to working at Bear Stearns, Ms. Telsey was the Retail Analyst at C.J. Lawrence and Vice President of the Baron Asset Fund at Baron Capital, Inc.

Ms. Telsey is a thirteen-year member of Institutional Investor magazine’s “All-America Research Team” where she was ranked the Number One Specialty Stores analyst for 7 consecutive years through 2005.

She has appeared as a special guest on such programs as Wall Street Week, ABC News, The NBC Evening News and The Today Show and is a regular guest analyst on both CNN and CNBC. Ms. Telsey is a regular contributor to Luxury Briefing, the leading luxury goods industry publication, and WGSN (Worth Global Style Network), an online research, trend analysis and news service for the fashion and style industries.

Ms. Telsey graduated from Hobart-William Smith Colleges with a B.A. degree in History and Spanish and received her M.B.A from Fordham University. She holds the Series 7, 24, 63, 66 86, and 87 Licenses.

 

Pamela Thomas-Graham
Managing Director
Angelo, Gordon & Co.

Ms. Thomas-Graham is a Managing Director at Angelo, Gordon & Co., a leading investment management firm with over $19 billion in assets under management. She is a member of the firm’s private equity group and helps lead its efforts in consumer and retail.

From 2005 to 2007, Ms. Thomas-Graham was Group President of Liz Claiborne Inc's $1.5 billion Women's Better and Moderate Apparel business unit, successfully executing a turnaround of the unit and exceeding sales and profit goals. From 2001 to 2005, Ms. Thomas-Graham was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of NBC Universal's CNBC television business unit and a Director of CNBC International. During her time at CNBC, Ms. Thomas-Graham led the unit to record profits, making the network one of the most profitable cable properties in the U.S. From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Thomas-Graham was President and Chief Executive Officer of CNBC.com, leading the creation of the start-up financial news website. Prior to her time at CNBC.com, Ms. Thomas-Graham served at McKinsey and Company for ten years, advising a wide range of Fortune 500 clients in media, apparel, packaged goods and other consumer industries. Ms. Thomas-Graham began her career at McKinsey as an associate in 1989 and became the first black woman partner in the firm’s history in 1995.

Ms. Thomas-Graham serves as Director of Clorox and Idenix Pharmaceuticals and was a member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Advisory Committee on Transformational Diplomacy.  She has written three critically-acclaimed mystery novels, which have been translated into Japanese and German, published by Simon & Schuster. Ms. Thomas-Graham graduated with a joint M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1989, where she was a member of the Harvard Law Review.  Ms. Thomas-Graham graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in Economics in 1985.

 

John M. Warner
Principal
CCMP Capital Advisors, LLC

John Warner is a Principal in the New York office of CCMP Capital. He focuses on making investments in the energy, industrial, automotive and consumer sectors. Prior to joining CCMP in 2000, Mr. Warner was an investment professional at FS Private Investments and Riverside Partners and a strategy consultant at Monitor Company. Mr. Warner currently serves on the board of directors of Chromalox, Madisonville Gas Processing, MetoKote, Noble Environmental Power and Quiznos Sub. Mr. Warner holds a B.A. from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.