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Third High-Level Executive Exits Guess? Inc.

There’s a bit of a brain drain at Guess? Inc., the $2.7 billion apparel giant that is one of the largest clothing companies in Los Angeles.

Nancy Shachtman, president of the vertical retailer’s North America region, has left the company, according to media reports and analysts covering the company.

Guess did not make a formal announcement about Shachtman’s departure, but other sources confirmed she had left. A call requesting comment from the company’s investor-relations department was not answered by press time.

Shachtman was the third top executive to leave Guess in the past five months. On Nov. 1, Guess announced the resignation of J. Michael Prince, the company’s chief operating officer and of Dennis Secor, the chief financial officer.

The executive departures came when the prominent company’s sales performance started to lag. Its North American retail same-store sales declined 6 percent during the third quarter of fiscal 2013, which was reported on Nov. 28. Guess also reported net earnings of $36.6 million, a 44.7 percent decline compared with the same quarter the previous year, when it reported net earnings of $66.3 million.

However, revenue from Guess’ Asian operations increased 16 percent, according to its third-quarter report. According to financial documents, Guess forecast it will expand its presence in China, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Japan and India.