FORT WAYNE, Ind., June 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vera Bradley, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRA) ("Vera Bradley" or the "Company") today announced that Karen Peters has been named Executive Vice President, Retail and Wholesale Sales.
Peters has 25 years of retail experience including multi-store management and merchandising. Between February 2005 and March 2014, she served as Senior Vice President, Director of Stores for Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, Saks Fifth Avenue's outlet channel. Prior to joining OFF 5TH, Peters held key management positions with Sears, Target, and Kohl's.
In her new role with Vera Bradley, Peters will oversee the Company's full-line and factory outlet stores, the indirect channel (including the gift channel, the Company's department store relationships and other current and emerging indirect channels), store visual and store real estate. As key member of the executive team, she will be responsible for developing and executing strategies to drive revenue growth and improved business results.
Peters officially will be based out of the Company's New York office but will split her time between New York, the Company's Fort Wayne headquarters and the Company's stores and retail partners. She will report directly to Robert Wallstrom, Chief Executive Officer.
Wallstrom noted, "During her tenure at OFF 5TH, Karen managed numerous new store openings, relocations, and renovations; substantially improved customer service metrics including conversion, checkout time, new customer acquisitions, and e-mail capture; and effectively collaborated with the merchandising and visual teams to elevate product assortments and in-store visual presentations. Karen will be a real asset to the Company as we continue to add new retail stores, expand our department store presence, and stabilize our specialty gift channel."
About Vera Bradley, Inc.
Vera Bradley, Inc. is a leading designer of women's handbags and accessories, luggage and travel items, eyewear, stationery and gifts. Founded in 1982 by friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller, the brand's iconic designs and versatile styles offer women of all ages a colorful way to accessorize. Vera Bradley offers a unique, multi-channel sales model as well as a focus on service and a high level of engagement with fans. Fiscal 2014 net revenues totaled approximately $536 million. The Company's commitment to breast cancer research continues to increase its reach through the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. For more information about Vera Bradley (Nasdaq:VRA), visit www.verabradley.com/mediaroom.
Vera Bradley Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations or beliefs concerning future events and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected, including: possible adverse changes in general economic conditions and their impact on consumer confidence and spending; possible inability to predict and respond in a timely manner to changes in consumer demand; possible loss of key management or design associates or inability to attract and retain the talent required for our business; possible inability to maintain and enhance our brand; possible inability to successfully implement our growth strategies or manage our growing business; possible inability to successfully open new stores as planned; and possible inability to sustain levels of comparable-store sales. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our forward-looking statements, please refer to "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2014. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Financial schedules are attached to this release.