Consumer Growth Partners

Earl Benson – Mr. Benson is currently Executive Director of The Iona Group, a financial consulting firm 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 clients such as Gap, Williams-Sonoma, Sharper Image, Grand Auto, Mervyn’s, Macy’s and Federated Department Stores.  top

Peter Brown – Mr. Brown is Chairman of Grassmere Partners, LLC. Previously, he was Chairman, CEO and President, AMC Entertainment Inc.  top

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 a former Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners.  top

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 JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) and Chair of Teach For America, St. Louis. She is a Past Trustee of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).  top

Jacqueline Corso – Ms. Corso is Senior Vice President-Merchandising of Loehmann’s.  She was formerly CEO of Nine West Accessories and Victoria & Co., both divisions of Jones Apparel Group (NYSE:  JNY).  Previously, she was EVP-GMM of New York & Co.  (NYSE:  NWY) and VP-GMM of Talbots (NYSE:  TLB).  top

Don Dorsey – Mr. Dorsey is the former Executive Vice President and CFO of PetSmart (NASDAQ:  PETM) and serves on the boards of several private companies.  top

Steven Douglass – Mr. Douglass served as Chairman of the Board and CEO 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 CFO of J.W. Robinsons.  top

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).  top

Mary Lou Fiala – Ms. Fiala is Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer at Regency Centers. Prior to joining Regency Centers, she served as Managing Director of Security Capital Global Strategic Group Incorporated. Previously, she also served as Senior Vice President and Director of Stores for Macy’s East/Federated Department Stores, Senior Vice President of Henri Bendel and Senior Vice President and Regional Director of Stores for Federated’s Burdine’s Division. She is a trustee for the International Council of Shopping Centers where she also served as 2008-2009 Chairman, and a member of the board of directors for Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Ms. Fiala is also a board member of Stir Crazy, Inc. and an independent director for the CNL Macquarie Global Growth Trust.  top

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.  top

Sue Gove – Ms. Gove is Executive Vice President and COO of Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. Prior to joining Golfsmith, Ms. Gove was an independent consultant, serving clients in specialty retail and private equity. Previously, she was EVP and COO of Zale Corporation from 2002 to 2006 and EVP and CFO of Zale Corporation from 1998 to 2002. She is a member of the Board of Directors of AutoZone, Inc.  top

Richard Green – Mr. Green is Chairman of The Calvin Group LLC. Previously, he was Chairman, CEO and President of Aquila, Inc. He is a former Advisory Director to Kansas City Equity Partners.  top

Bruce Hartman – Mr. Hartman is former CFO of Yankee Candle Company. Previously he served as CFO of Cushman & Wakefield. He is the former Executive Vice President and CFO of Foot Locker (NYSE: FL). He is also the former CFO of Filene’s and Famous Barr, divisions of May Department Stores.  top

Ken Hicks – Mr. Hicks is President and CEO of Foot Locker, Inc. Previously, Mr. Hicks served as President and Chief Merchandising Officer of JCPenney. He also served as President of Payless Shoe Source, Inc., 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.  top

Robert Huth – Mr. Huth is President and CEO of David’s Bridal which also includes 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.  top

Jeffrey Hutsell – Mr. Hutsell is CEO and Founder of Levels of Discovery, LLC, a leader in creative children’s wooden furniture. Previously, he was President and CEO of Enesco Group, Inc. During his Enesco career, this publicly traded company grew from $100 million to a peak of $550 million in revenues.  top

Bill Julian – Mr. Julian is Chief Equity Strategist at Think Trade LLC, a firm that designs and implements 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.  top

Stan Leibowitz – Mr. Leibowitz is President and CEO of the Park Highland Group, a professional services firm consulting to the direct marketing industry. Previously, he served as CAO/EVP of Victoria’s Secret Direct and Executive Vice President and COO of Neiman Marcus Direct. He spent many years at Spiegel where he headed business development.  top

Steven Lumpkin – Mr. Lumpkin is the former CFO, head of corporate strategy and director of Applebee’s International, Inc. (NASD: APPB). Previously, he served as CFO/CIO and a director of Kimberly Quality Care, the country’s largest provider of home health services, and as a management consulting partner for Price Waterhouse & Co. with client responsibilities in financial services, health care, distribution, manufacturing and consumer packaged goods industries.  top

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).  top

Chuck Marcy – Mr. Marcy is the President and CEO of Breyers Yogurt Company. Previously, he was President and CEO of Horizon Organic Holding Corp. He is also the 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.  top

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).  top

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.  top

Nancy Pedot – Ms. Pedot is the former CEO of Party City and Gymboree. top

Mike Parks – Mr. Parks is Chairman of Alliance Data Systems where he formerly was CEO.  Previously, Mr. Parks was President of First Data Resources, the credit card processing and billing division of First Data Corporation.  top

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).  top

Michael Rayden – Mr. Rayden is the CEO of Tween, a division of Dress Barn, and a director of Dress Barn (NASDAQ:  DBRN). 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 and President and CEO of Eddie Bauer, Inc.  top

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).  top

Craig Rydin – Mr. Rydin is Executive Chairman of Yankee Candle Co. Previously, Mr. Rydin was President of two divisions of the Campbell Soup Company (Away From Home and Godiva Chocolatier) (NYSE: CPB). He currently serves on the board of Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN).  top

Jean Schlemmer – Ms. Schlemmer is an independent retail real estate consultant. Previously Ms. Schlemmer was the Chief Corporate Development Officer, EVP of Asset Management and SVP of Leasing for General Growth Properties (OT: GGWPQ).  top

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.  top

Tom Slover – Mr. Slover is currently Chairman of Shoe Sensation Inc., a CGP portfolio company. Previously, he was President and CEO of Foot Locker Europe (NYSE: FL) and a Vice President at Payless ShoeSource (NYSE: PSS).  top

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) and a member of the Board of Powerwave Technologies (NASDAQ: PWAV).  top

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 well-known consulting firm that specializes 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) and Shoe Sensation, Inc. and he is a member of the faculty of the University of Denver where he teaches courses on marketing and leadership.  top

Laura Weil –Ms. Weil is CEO of Urban Brands Inc.  Previously she was COO and Senior Executive Vice President of Ann Taylor Corporation (NYSE: ANN) and former Executive Vice President and CFO of American Eagle Outfitters (NASDAQ: AEOS). She is a director of Carnival Corp (NYSE: CUK).  top