Wet Seal Resignation
Douglas C. Felderman resigned from The Wet Seal Inc. on Aug. 10 after spending a little more than one year at the retail chain. He was the chief financial officer, secretary, treasurer and executive vice president for the company, based in Foothill Ranch. A Wet Seal statement said Felderman resigned for personal reasons and that an executive search firm will be looking for a replacement. He was hired in April 2004 by Peter D. Whitford, the chief executive officer who resigned in November 2004. Wet Seal suffered through more than two years of comparable-store sales decreases, frequently in the double digits, from August 2002 to December 2004. Since January, the company has earned positive comparative-store sales but has continued to lose money. Wet Seal’s current chief executive, Joel N. Waller, said in a past company statement that new merchandising strategies were helping the company. But in fiscal 2005, the company had a net loss of $198.3 million.
