Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain
Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Formation of Office of the CEO; Management Reorganization
On June 12, 2019, the Board of Directors (the
Board
) of Destination Maternity Corporation (the
Company
) announced
that Marla A. Ryan and the Company had mutually agreed that Ms. Ryan would step down as the Companys Chief Executive Officer and resign as a director on the Board, each effective as of June 13, 2019. Ms. Ryan will remain
employed in a new role as the Companys President, and will initially be responsible for overseeing the Companys design, merchandising, and sourcing.
Also on June 12, 2019, the Board announced the formation of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer (
Office of the CEO
), effective
June 13, 2019, to discharge the duties of the Chief Executive Officer while the Company conducts a search for a candidate to assume the responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer.
Lisa Gavales, an independent director of the Company, will serve as Chair of the Office of the CEO. There are no arrangements or understandings between
Ms. Gavales and any other persons pursuant to which she was appointed as Chair of the Office of the CEO, she has no family relationships with any of the Companys directors or executive officers, and she is not a party to, and she does not
have any direct or indirect material interest in, any transaction requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation
S-K.
Ms. Gavales, 56, has served as a director of the Company since March 2019. Most recently, Ms. Gavales provided interim leadership for Bluestem
Group, Inc., starting in 2017 as President of its Northstar portfolio and for over a year as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Bluestem Group. From 2014 to 2017, Ms. Gavales was Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Things
Remembered, where she was instrumental in streamlining the company and innovating shipping and manufacturing processes, providing better assortments with shorter delivery times. Before that, she served as President and Chief Marketing Officer of
Talbots. From 2008 to 2013, Ms. Gavales was Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at EXPRESS where she led the launch of express.com and reinvigoration of the brand. Earlier in her career, Ms. Gavales spent over a decade at
Bloomingdales where she held a variety of positions including: Senior Vice President of Marketing, where she was responsible for the launch of bloomingdales.com, General Merchandise Manager, and SVP of Planning. Ms. Gavales also sits on
the boards of: Bluestem Brands, True Religion, and Goodwill of Greater Cleveland. Ms. Gavales holds an MBA and BS from the University of Bridgeport.
The Company and Ms. Gavales have entered into a letter agreement with respect to Ms. Gavales service as Chair of the Office of the CEO (the
Chair Letter
). Pursuant to the Chair Letter, Ms. Gavales has agreed to serve as Chair of the Office of the CEO for an initial
30-day
period, commencing on June 13, 2019. The term
will extend automatically for successive
30-day
periods until a successor Chief Executive Officer is appointed (or until the date Ms. Gavales is no longer a director on the Board, or the Board otherwise
decides to end the appointment). Ms. Gavales will be entitled to an additional cash retainer of $50,000 per month for the initial
30-day
period of the term, with any compensation for service as Chair of
the Office of the CEO for any period after the initial term mutually agreed in good faith between Ms. Gavales and the Company. The additional retainer will not affect the other cash and equity retainers to which Ms. Gavales is entitled
under the Companys
Non-Employee
Director Compensation Policy.
As a result of Ms. Gavales
appointment as Chair of the Office of the CEO, Ms. Gavales is no longer considered independent under the NASDAQ listing rules while she is serving as Chair of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer and accordingly will step down
from the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Ms. Ryan and David Helkey, the Corporations Chief Financial Officer and Chief
Operating Officer, will also serve as members of the Office of the CEO. The information specified in Item 5.02(c)(2) with respect to Ms. Ryan and Mr. Helkey is included in the Companys Annual Report on Form
10-K
filed on April 16, 2019, under Executive Officers of the Company, and in the Companys definitive proxy statement, filed on April 25, 2019, under Certain Relationships and
Related Party Transactions, which is incorporated by reference herein. Neither Ms. Ryan nor Mr. Helkey will be entitled to any additional compensation in respect of their service as members of the Office of the
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