GREENWICH, Conn., July 23, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH) today announced the promotion of James Mannion to President of PartyLite's U.S. division from his prior position of Vice President, Product Marketing and Research at PartyLite. PartyLite, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blyth, Inc., is a direct sales company for candles and accessories with more than 47,000 independent sales consultants in 10 countries across North America and Europe. Mr. Mannion succeeds Dianne Baldridge, who recently retired.
Mr. Mannion joined PartyLite in July of last year. Under his leadership, the Product Marketing and Research Group, in conjunction with its partners in Corporate Marketing, Research and Development, Manufacturing and Global Sourcing at Blyth, has made many significant contributions to PartyLite's worldwide business. Notable accomplishments include the launch of Summer Spectacular, a new product line of candles and accessories, and the redesign and development of PartyLite's Holiday 2001 product line and catalogue, which includes more than 50 new items and will be used by PartyLite sales consultants worldwide.
Mr. Mannion came to PartyLite with more than 20 years of direct sales experience in product management, new product design and development, catalogue marketing, consumer promotions, sales force incentives, strategic planning and operations. He spent 6 years with the direct sales organization The Longaberger Company, most recently as Executive Director of the Strategic Growth Group. Mr. Mannion began his career in direct sales with Avon Products in 1978 as Operations Supervisor and assumed positions of increasing responsibility through 1993, when he served as Director of Catalogue Marketing.
President Emeritus Dianne Baldridge Retires Following Extraordinary 13-Year Career with PartyLite
Ms. Baldridge joined PartyLite as Vice President of National Development in 1988, when PartyLite was a division of Colonial Candle of Cape Cod and had sales of less than $7 million. Originally started as an outlet for the company's excess and obsolete inventory, PartyLite's model is based on the party plan method of direct, or in-home, selling. Far from the model under which the company was originally conceived, PartyLite today is a leading, multinational marketer of top-quality candles and related accessories.
Commenting on the organizational announcement, Robert B. Goergen, Blyth's Chairman and CEO, said, "Jim Mannion has demonstrated his leadership and creative abilities in short order at PartyLite, as well as throughout his career in senior management in several direct sales companies. He is highly qualified to fill this important position, and we are very pleased that his talents will be utilized in all facets of the U.S. organization as we work to grow and expand PartyLite into new markets."
Mr. Goergen continued, "Eleven years ago, I could not have guessed that we would be where we are today, in all 50 states and in 10 countries. Dianne Baldridge has much to celebrate in her retirement. For 13 years, she has shared the PartyLite dream with thousands of women and men across the country, changing their lives for the better. I know that everyone at PartyLite and Blyth wishes Dianne much happiness in the years to come."
Michael File Named Vice President, Product Marketing and Research at PartyLite
Management also announced the appointment of Michael File, who succeeds Mr. Mannion. Mr. File joins PartyLite with more than 20 years of experience in direct sales. He began his career at Avon and held various positions of increasing responsibility, including Group Director of Marketing and Vice President of Marketing for Avon in Canada, where he oversaw product development, design, merchandising, sales promotion and advertising in four business units. He most recently utilized his expertise in a company he founded, Charlotte Consulting Services, which provided marketing, strategic planning and business development expertise to clients such as Time Inc., Unilever and Demarle France. Mr. File received his B.S. from the University of Hull, his MBA from the London Business School, and is a graduate of Columbia University's General Management Program.
Frank P. Mineo, President of PartyLite Worldwide, said, "Mike's breadth of domestic and international experience in new product development makes him uniquely qualified to lead this area of our increasingly global company. He is an innovative leader with a keen ability to motivate and develop staff to achieve and surpass their objectives, and we are very pleased to welcome him to the PartyLite family."
Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at www.blythinc.com. PartyLite may be found on the Internet at www.partylite.com.
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, designs, manufactures and markets an extensive line of candles and home fragrance products including scented candles, potpourri and other fragranced products, and markets a broad range of related candle accessories. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite(r) brand, to retailers in the mid-tier and premium retail channels, under the Colonial Candle of Cape Cod(r), Kate's Original Recipe(tm) and Carolina Designs(r) brands and in the mass retail channel under the Ambria(tm), Florasense(r) and FilterMate(r) brands. In Europe, its products are also sold under the Gies, Colony and Wax Lyrical brands. Blyth also markets a broad range of Creative Expressions and Foodservice products, including decorative seasonal products under the Midwest of Cannon Falls(r) and Impact(tm) brand names, paper-related products under the Jeanmarie(r) brand and tabletop illumination products and portable heating fuel for the hotel, restaurant and catering trade, under the Ambria(tm), Sterno(r) and HandyFuel(r) brand names. Net Sales for the twelve months ended April 30, 2001 totaled $1,167 million.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the risk of a continuing weakness of the retail environment, the effects of our restructuring, the risk of maintaining the Company's growth rate, the Company's ability to respond to increased product demand, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations) associated with international sales and foreign products, the risks of being able to recruit new independent sales consultants, dependence on key management personnel, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, and other factors described in this press release, in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2001 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2001.