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Friedman's Names Sam Cusano as Chief Executive Officer
Retail Industry Veteran Brings 25 Years of Strategic Experience to One of the
Country's Leading Jewelry Retailers
SAVANNAH, Ga., June 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Friedman's Inc. (OTC:FRDM),
the "Value Leader" in fine jewelry retailing, today announced that Sam Cusano
has been named Chief Executive Officer and will be appointed to the Company's
Board of Directors. Mr. Cusano joins Friedman's after most recently serving as
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Service Merchandise Company, Inc.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020215/FRIEDMANLOGO )
"I am very excited to be joining Friedman's, a company with a long and
well-deserved tradition of offering high quality jewelry at market leading,
value prices," said Cusano. "I look forward to working with our Board of
Directors as well as our talented associates and our vendors, most of whom I
know, to build on the company's already strong presence in the marketplace."
"Sam is a proven retail leader who has earned respect not only in the jewelry
industry, but also in the financial and retail industries at large," said Allan
Edwards, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Friedman's.
"Friedman's is fortunate to have someone of Sam's caliber and I'm sure our
vendors and associates will join me in welcoming him to Friedman's."
Cusano brings over 25 years of high level retail experience to Friedman's, with
more than 10 years of experience in the jewelry industry with Service
Merchandise. In addition to serving as Chairman and CEO of Service
Merchandise, Mr. Cusano has held senior financial executive positions with
retailers Revco Drug Stores and G.C. Murphy Company.
"Having worked in the jewelry industry for more than 10 years, I am very
familiar with Friedman's and the unique market niche it has created in the
industry," Cusano said. "I'm here because I see a tremendous opportunity to
help Friedman's enhance its market position and build on a business model that
can succeed for years to come."
Cusano noted that the company's strong niche in the jewelry market is the
foundation on which he plans to build and that his leadership at Friedman's
would be "customer and store focused." "We are all here to make certain that
our stores serve our customers better than anyone else in the industry," said
Cusano.
"The Board is confident that we have the right person to restore our company
and preserve Friedman's rich tradition as a trusted value leader, while having
the vision to realize the company's full potential," said Friedman's Chairman
Allan Edwards. "With Sam's leadership, Friedman's will build upon its current
success and continue to grow as a market leader."
About Friedman's
Founded in 1920, Friedman's Inc. is a leading specialty retailer based in
Savannah, Georgia. The Company is the leading operator of fine jewelry stores
located in power strip centers and regional malls. For more information, go
to: http://www.friedmans.com/ .
Some of the statements included in this press release, particularly those
anticipating future financial performance, business prospects, growth and
operating strategies and similar matters, are forward-looking statements that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For those statements, we claim the
protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and a variety of factors
could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the
anticipated or expected results expressed in these forward-looking statements.
The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-
looking statements. The forward-looking statements, the Company's liquidity,
capital resources, and results of operations are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the following: the ability of
the Company to comply with the terms of its credit facility; potential adverse
developments with respect to the Company's liquidity and/or results of
operations; competitive pressures from other retailers; trends in the economy
as a whole which may affect consumer confidence and consumer demand for the
types of goods sold by the Company; the ability of the Company to attract,
retain and compensate key executives and associates; the ability of the Company
to attract and retain customers; potential adverse publicity; the ability of
the company to achieve the cost savings and operational benefits projected from
its planned store closings; the final results of the audit including the review
of the calculation of our allowance for doubtful accounts; the results of the
SEC and Justice Department investigations; the results of various litigation;
the effect of the restatement on our credit facilities, including funding
availability there under and our relationship with our lenders; the effect of
the restatement on our future earnings, including any adjustments to previously
announced earnings forecasts; and other risk factors identified from time to
time in our SEC reports, including, but not limited to, the report on Form 10-K
for the year ended September 28, 2002.
Contacts:
Sue Tremblay Jane D'Arcy
Trion Communications Trion Communications
(401) 935-9414 (617) 901-0201
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020215/FRIEDMANLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
DATASOURCE: Friedman's Inc.
CONTACT: Sue Tremblay, +1-401-935-9414, or , or
Jane D'Arcy, +1-617-901-0201, or , both of Trion
Communications
Web site: http://www.friedmans.com/