EXECUTIVE PANEL
Earl Benson , Fmr CFO, Kate's Paperie & Ross Stores
Henry Bloch, Honorary Chairman, H&R Block
Tom Burcham, Chairman, Missouri Bank & Trust Co.
Maxine Clark, Chief Exec Bear, Build-A-Bear Workshop
Don Dorsey, Former CFO, PetsMart
Steven Douglass, Former Chair/CEO, Payless ShoeSource
Susan Engel, Former Chairman/CEO, Department 56
Cynthia Fields, Former Pres/CEO, Victoria's Secret Direct
Paul Finkelstein, Chairman/CEO, Regis Corporation
Richard Green, Chairman/Pres/CEO, Aquila
Bruce Hartman, CFO, Cushman & Wakefield
Ken Hicks, Pres/Chief Merchandising Officer, JCPenney
Robert Huth, Pres/CEO, Bridal Group of May Dept. Stores
Bill Julian, Fmr MD/Retail Analyst, CitiGroup/Smith Barney
Stan Leibowitz, Former CAO/EVP, Victoria's Secret Direct
Steven Lumpkin, Former CFO, Applebee's International
Fred Lyons, Former Chairman, Hoechst Marion Roussel
Chuck Marcy, Former Pres/CEO, Horizon Organic
Kathleen Mason, CEO, Tuesday Morning
Lou Mucci, Former CFO, BJ's Restaurants
Mike Parks Chairman, CEO, President, Alliance Data
Nancy Pedot, Former CEO, Party City and Gymboree
Jim Peters Former Pres/COO, Ross Stores
Michael Rayden Chairman/CEO, Tween Brands, Inc.
Michael Robinson, EVP/CFO, Life Time Fitness
Craig Rydin, Chairman/CEO, Yankee Candle Company
John Sherman, Pres/CEO, Inergy, L.P.
Tom Slover, Former Pres/CEO, Foot Locker Europe
Andy Sukawaty, Chairman/CEO, Inmarsat Group
Dan Sweeney Former VP, Global Consulting for IBM Corp
Laura Weil, Former COO, Ann Taylor Corp.
Hugh Zimmer, Chairman/Pres, Zimmer Development Co.
Earl Benson – Mr. Benson is currently a financial consultant to the retail industry. He served as Executive Vice President and CFO of Kate's Paperie, a New York based boutique retailer. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and CFO for NWL Holdings, a privately held general merchandise, closeout retailer, and Senior Vice President and CFO for Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST). During his career at Deloitte, in addition to his positions on the Professional Standards Review Board and National Retail Industry Committee, his retail practice included The Gap, Williams-Sonoma, Sharper Image, Grand Auto, Mervyn’s, ASI, Macy’s, and Federated Department stores.
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Henry Bloch – Mr. Bloch is co-founder and honorary chairman of H&R Block. He is an Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners. Previously, he served on the Boards of SBC Corporation (NYSE: SBC ), Jason Empire, Inc., Employers Reinsurance Corporation and CompuServe, Inc.
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Tom Burcham - Mr. Burcham is Chairman of Missouri Bank and Trust Company and United Bank of Kansas . He also owns and is Chairman of MBT Bancshares and Western Blueprint, the largest reprographic company in the Midwest. Previously, he has owned 17 banks, and sold seven to Commercial Federal Corp. (NYSE: CFB ). He is an Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners.
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Maxine Clark – Ms. Clark is Chairman and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW). Previously, she served as President of Payless ShoeSource (NYSE: PSS ). She is a director of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP ) and serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
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Don Dorsey – Mr. Dorsey is the former CFO of PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM ) and former CFO of A.J. Bayless Markets, Inc. He serves on the boards of several private companies including Three Dog Bakery, a Kansas City Equity Partners portfolio company.
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Steven Douglass – Mr. Douglass
served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Payless ShoeSource, Inc. (NYSE: PSS) from 1996 until July of 2005. Previously, he held several positions at divisions of The May Department Stores Company, including Chairman of May Company, Ohio and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of J.W. Robinsons.
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Susan Engel – Ms. Engel is former Chairman and CEO of Department 56 (NYSE: DFS ). Previously, Ms. Engel was president and CEO of Champion Products, Inc., the athletic apparel division of Sara Lee Corporation. She is a director of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC ) and SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU ).
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Cynthia Fields – Ms. Fields is currently a consultant to the direct marketing industry. Previously, she served as the President/CEO of Victoria 's Secret Catalogue and VictoriasSecret.com. She is a director of Blair Co. (AMEX: BL).
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Paul Finkelstein – Mr. Finkelstein is Chairman and CEO of Regis Corporation (NYSE: RGS ). Previously, he managed beauty-industry investments for a Bass family investment firm, and spent 15 years building his family's chain of department store hair salons.
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Richard Green – Mr. Green is Chairman, CEO and President of Aquila, Inc. (NYSE: ILA ). He is a former Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners
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Bruce Hartman – Mr. Hartman is CFO for Cushman & Wakefield. He is the former Executive Vice President and CFO of Foot Locker (NYSE: FL). He is also the former Chief Financial Officer of Filene's and Famous Barr, divisions of May Department Stores.
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Ken Hicks– Mr. Hicks is President and Chief Merchandising Officer for JCPenney. Previously, Mr. Hicks served as President of Payless Shoe Source, Inc. He has also served as executive vice president and general merchandise manager for the Home Shopping Network, and senior vice president and general merchandise manager for May Department Stores. Hicks joined May Department Stores as senior vice president, strategic planning, from the consulting firm of McKinsey and Company.
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Robert Huth – Mr. Huth is President and CEO of the Bridal Group of May Department Stores (NYSE: MAY ), which includes David’s Bridal and After Six Formal Wear stores. Previously, Mr. Huth was Executive Vice President and CFO of Melville Corporation, which was the parent company of CVS , Marshall’s, Linen ‘N Things, and KayBee Toys, among other specialty retail concepts.
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Bill Julian – Mr. Julian is Chief Equity Strategist at Think Trade LLC, a firm that designs
and implements for its own account black-box trading algorithms. Previously, he was a founding partner of Calimar Capital Management, a hedge fund focused on small cap stocks. Prior to Calimar, he was Managing Director at Citigroup (NYSE: C) where he served as Director of Emerging Growth Strategy. He was also a top-ranked equity research analyst following hardlines retailers at Citigroup/Smith Barney, Credit Suisse (NYSE: CSG) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH).
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Stan Leibowitz – Mr. Leibowitz is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Park Highland Group, a professional services firm consulting to multi-channel retailers. Previously, he served as CAO /EVP of Victoria’s Secret Direct and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Neiman Marcus Direct (NYSE: NMG ).
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Steven Lumpkin – Mr. Lumpkin is the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the board of directors of Applebee’s International, Inc. (NASD: APPB), the worlds largest casual dining restaurant brand with over 1,760 restaurants open in fourteen countries. Previously, Mr. Lumpkin served as EVP and board member of Kimberly Quality Care, the country’s largest provider of home health services, and as a management consulting partner for Price Waterhouse & Co.
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Fred Lyons – Mr. Lyons is the retired Chairman of Hoechst Marion Roussel - now known as Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: SNY). He is former Chairman of the Advisory Board for Kansas City Equity Partners. He is retired from the Board of Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW).
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Chuck Marcy – Mr. Marcy is the former President and CEO of Horizon Organic Holding Corp. Mr. Marcy is also former President of Quaker Oats Golden Grain Company, a unit of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP ), and former President of Kraft General Foods (NYSE: KFT) National Dairy Products Corporation.
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Kathleen Mason – Ms. Mason is CEO of Tuesday Morning (NASDAQ: TUES ). Previously, she was President of HomeGoods, Inc., a subsidiary of TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX ) and President, Chairman and CEO at Cherry & Webb, a well-known New England regional chain specializing in women’s apparel and cosmetics. Ms. Mason is a director of Genesco, Inc. (NYSE: GCO ), The Men’s Wearhouse (NYSE:MW) and Hot Topic (NASDAQ: HOTT ).
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Lou Mucci – Mr. Mucci is the former CFO of BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: BJRI). He currently serves as an advisor to the Board of Directors of BJ’s Restaurants. Previously, he was Chairman of the West Coast Retail Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He is a director of Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) and Stir Crazy, Inc., a privately held restaurant chain.
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Mike Parks – Mr. Parks is Chairman, CEO and President of Alliance Data. Previously, Mr. Parks was president of First Data Resources, the credit card processing and billing division of First Data Corporation.
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Nancy Pedot – Ms. Pedot is the former CEO for Party City and Gymboree.
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Jim Peters – Mr. Peters is the former President and COO of Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST ). Previously, he was President of U.S. retail operations of Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS ).
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Michael Rayden – Mr. Rayden is Chairman and CEO of Limited Too (NYSE: TOO ). Previously, he was President, CEO and Chairman of Pacific Sunwear of California (NASDAQ: PSUN ). He also served as President and CEO of The Stride Rite Corporation (NYSE: SRR ) and President and CEO of Eddie Bauer, Inc.
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Michael Robinson – Mr. Robinson is Executive Vice President and CFO of LifeTime Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: LTM). Previously, Mr. Robinson was Executive Vice President and CFO of Next Generation Network, Inc., a digital video advertising company and was Vice President of Finance at Honeywell International, Inc. (NYSE: HON ).
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Craig Rydin – Mr. Rydin is Chairman and CEO of Yankee Candle Co. Previously, Mr. Rydin worked for the Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB ) where he was President of two divisions, including Godiva Chocolatier. He currently serves on the board of Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN ).
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John Sherman – Mr. Sherman is President, CEO and Director of Inergy, L.P. (NASDAQ: NRGY). Previously, Mr. Sherman worked for Ferrellgas (NYSE: FGP ) and was co-founder and President of LPG Services Group, a company that quickly became one of the nation's largest wholesale propane marketers, before being acquired by Dynegy (NYSE: DYN ). He served as Vice President of Dynegy until founding Inergy Partners.
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Tom Slover – Mr. Slover is currently CEO of Shoe Sensation Inc., a CGP portfolio company. Formerly, he was President and CEO of Foot Locker Europe (NYSE: FL). Previously, Mr. Slover was a Vice President at Payless ShoeSource (NYSE: PSS).
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Andy Sukawaty – Mr. Sukawaty is Chairman and CEO of Inmarsat Group Holding Ltd. Previously, he was with Cable Partners Europe, a European cable TV development company. Prior to that he was President and CEO of Sprint PCS . He is currently Chairman of Xyratex Group (NASDAQ: XRTX), a non-executive director of O2 PLC (LSE). He is on the Board of Powerwave Technologies (NASDAQ: PWAV ) and an Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners.
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Dan Sweeney – Dr. Sweeney is an independent business consultant and founder of the Center for Corporate Change. Previously, he was Vice President-Global Consulting/Distribution Industries for IBM and the Chairman of Management Horizons, a consulting firm specializing in the retail industry. He has also been an executive with the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, now known as Target Corp (NYSE: TGT ). Dr. Sweeney is a director of West Marine Products (NASDAQ: WMAR ).
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Laura Weil –Ms. Weil is former COO of Ann Taylor Corporation (NYSE: ANN) and former CFO of American Eagle Outfitters (NASDAQ: AEOS).
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Hugh Zimmer –Mr. Zimmer is Chairman and President of Zimmer Development Company and Zimmer Management Company, interrelated firms with operations in commercial real estate development, management and investment. He is an Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners.
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