Kahn Named Wet Seal Chairman
Foothill Ranch, Calif.–based The Wet Seal Inc. announced the retirement of its chairman of the board, Alan Siegel, on Dec. 14. Harold Kahn, another member of Wet Seal’s board, has been named as his replacement.
Siegel served the young women’s retailer for 20 years. He decided to resign because of his age. He will be 75 in January. He also will devote more of his time to working as the executor of the Wade F.B. Thompson Charitable Foundation, based in Niantic, Conn.
Kahn has served on Wet Seal’s board of directors since 2005. From 1994 to 2004, he worked as chairman and chief executive for the Macy’s East division of Macy’s Inc. He also serves on the board of directors of Steve Madden Ltd. and household-products maker Ronco Corp.
Wet Seal probably made a good choice in naming Kahn as its new chairman, said Jeffrey Van Sinderen, a retail analyst with Los Angeles–based B.Riley & Co. “He has a merchant background and knows Wet Seal very well. I don’t expect any dramatic changes, though,” Van Sinderen wrote in an e-mail.
In its most recent sales performance, Wet Seal reported a decline of 5 percent in its same-store sales in November compared with the previous year. Retail analyst Liz Pierce of Newport Beach, Calif.–based Roth Capital Partners said she remains bullish on the company. She gave the company a buy rating in a Dec. 4 retail note and remarked that Wet Seal offers good values and fresh merchandise.—Andrew Asch
