California: Sept. 7, 2001
The Textile Association of Los Angeles (TALA) will host a memorial for its former executive director and past president Robert Berg, who passed away on Aug. 17; the memorial, billed as a celebration of life, will be held Sept. 25 at 10:45 a.m. in the California Mart, suite C-686; for more information, contact the TALA office at (213) 627-6173...Former Sirena chief financial officer Richard Gerhart was sentenced to eight months split between imprisonment and a community confinement center after pleading guilty to nine counts of securities fraud including conspiracy and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission; Gerhart was also ordered to pay a $6,000 fine; Gerhart and Sirena chief executive officer Maurice “Corky” Newman faced federal charges relating to securities fraud for misstating the company’s earnings by holding open the third quarter of 1999 to allow more sales to be recorded during that time period; as a result, Sirena filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange; the company has since emerged from Chapter 11 and is in the process of selling off its assets, including its license for the Liz Claiborne swimwear lines;both Gerhart and Newman may also be forced to pay restitution, which is scheduled to be determined next month...City of Industry-based specialty retailer Hot Topic has revised the number of its planned store openings for 2001 from 65 to 70, according to the company, which has opened 55 stores so far this year.
