MERRIMACK, N.H., October 15, 2009 - Brookstone, Inc. today announced the appointment of Ronald D. Boire as President and Chief Executive Officer. Boire, 48, most recently served as President North America and Corporate Executive Vice President for Toy's "R" Us. Boire will also join the Brookstone Board of Directors.
Philip Roizin, 50, who has been Interim President and Chief Executive officer since February, resumes his responsibilities as Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration, and Chief Financial Officer, a position he previously held since 1996.
"We're thrilled that a talented retailer like Ron Boire has joined Brookstone as CEO," said Jackson Tai, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "Ron brings 27 years of extensive product development, merchant and retailing experience to our innovation-led company. He has a track record of turning around businesses, re-focusing brands, and developing products that customers want. Our principal investors, Osim International, J.W. Childs Associates, and Temasek, are excited that Ron's leadership will strengthen the Brookstone specialty lifestyle brand and our commitment to first-rate customer service.
"Brookstone products are truly unique in the world of specialty retailing", said Boire. Our stores provide a fun, interactive shopping experience in over 300 shopping mall locations. I look forward to working with our dedicated colleagues who have built a distinctive, multi-channel franchise over a 45 year-history. We have a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our retailing leadership and grow by redoubling our commitment to product excellence and first-rate service."
While at Toys "R" Us, Boire held positions as President, "R" Us Brands, President, Toys "R" Us, North America, Toys "R" Us .com and Toys "R" Us Canada. Previously, Boire was Best Buy Executive Committee member and Executive Vice President, Global General Merchandise Manager. Boire also worked for Sony Electronics, Inc. for seventeen years, during which time he was President, Personal Mobile Products Company and President, Consumer Sales Company, and a member of the Sony Electronics Executive Committee. Boire holds Masters in Business Administration degrees from Columbia Business School and London Business School.
"The Board of Directors is grateful to Philip Roizin for working tirelessly over the past eight months as Interim CEO to restructure our expense base and improve our customer service", said Tai. "He applied 13 years of deep Company knowledge to ensure that Brookstone remained competitive and nimble in today's challenging environment."
About Brookstone, Inc.
Brookstone, Inc. is an innovative product development and specialty lifestyle retail company that operates 309 Brookstone Brand stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls and airports, the stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The Company also operates a Direct Marketing business that includes the Brookstone catalog and an e-commerce website at http://www.brookstone.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this release which are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's confidence or expectations, earnings, anticipated operations of its e-commerce sites and those of third-party service providers, and other statements about the Company's operational outlook are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Reform Act") and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks of changing market conditions in the overall economy and the retail industry, consumer demand, the effectiveness of e-commerce technology and marketing efforts, availability of products, availability of adequate transportation of such products, and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's annual and other reports posted to the Company's website. Words such as "estimate", "project", "plan", "believe", "feel", "anticipate", "assume", "may", "will", "should" and similar words and phrases may identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company undertakes no obligations to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.