| |
|
|
|
|
DATE: April 20, 2006
|
|
CONTACT:
|
|
Blair Corporation |
|
|
|
|
Jude Dippold, Communications Director |
FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
|
|
|
|
814-723-3600 |
WARREN, Pa., (April 21, 2006) Blair Corporation (Amex: BL), (www.blair.com), a national catalog
and multi-channel direct marketer of womens and mens apparel and home products, today announced
the appointment of Shelley J. Seifert, an Executive Vice President of National City Corporation, as
a new Director of the Board. The addition of Ms. Seifert increases the number of board members from
nine to ten following a number of retirements over the past year.
Ms. Seifert currently serves as Executive Vice President-Best In Class at National City
Corporation, one of the nations largest financial holding companies, based in Cleveland. In her
position, she is responsible for leading a team of more than 500 employees charged with executing a
financial improvement initiative. The initiative Ms. Seifert heads is examining many aspects of
National Citys corporate structure, including outsourcing, sales force effectiveness, back office
optimization, right sizing the organizational structure, and product bundling. Before assuming her
current position, Ms. Seifert served in a variety of positions at National City. From 1994 until
2004, she was the Corporate Human Resource Director. She assumed that position after serving as the
Human Resource Director for National Processing Company, a subsidiary of National City. Prior to
that, she was National Citys Compensation and Development Director.
Shelleys experience in human resources and her financial acumen are two crucial assets which she
brings to our board, said Craig N. Johnson, Blair Corporation Board Chairman, in announcing the
appointment. Blairs current cultural change initiative will undoubtedly benefit from her insight
as will the Companys efforts to maximize our financial resources.
Ms. Seifert holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisville
where she graduated with high honors. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and
Consumer Economics from the University of Missouri. Prior to her employment with National City, Ms.
Seifert served as Compensation and Benefits Manager and as a financial analyst for First Kentucky
National Corporation.
She currently resides in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She serves as Chairman of Business Volunteers
Unlimited. In addition, she is Vice Chairman of the Visiting Nurses Association, a board member of
City Year and past chairman of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland.
ABOUT BLAIR
Headquartered in Warren, Pennsylvania, Blair Corporation sells a broad range of womens and
mens apparel and home products through direct mail marketing and its Web sites www.blair.com and
www.irvinepark.com. Blair Corporation employs approximately 2,000 associates (worldwide) and
operates facilities and retail outlets in Northwestern Pennsylvania as well as a catalog outlet in
Wilmington, Delaware. The Company, which has annual sales of approximately $500 million, is
publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange (Amex:BL). For additional information, please visit
http://www.blair.com.