R.G. Barry Shareholders OK Board Change & Elect Two Directors

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• USA - English

PICKERINGTON, Ohio, Nov. 5, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shareholders of R.G. Barry Corporation (Nasdaq: DFZ), meeting Thursday at the Company's suburban Columbus headquarters, received a glimpse of the accessory footwear maker's long-term vision for its business and authorized changes that will allow the Company to eliminate one seat from its Board of Directors.

"Fiscal 2010 was a great year for our Company and capped off the most profitable five-year period in our 63-year history," R.G. Barry Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Tunney told those attending the Company's annual meeting of shareholders or listening via webcast. "In fiscal 2010, we continued a pattern of consistent year-over-year revenue growth and top-quartile performance. Since 2006, we have outpaced the annual goals set for nearly every measure of performance, productivity and profitability in our business despite some of the most difficult retail environments since the Great Depression."

Mr. Tunney told the gathering that the company's growth strategy will continue to focus on development of its existing accessory footwear business in the U.S. and expanding that business abroad; elimination of under-performing licenses and private brands; and on business extensions and acquisitions that will diversify the company's footprint within the accessory category.

"We envision a much broader R.G. Barry in terms of products, seasonality and customer/consumer demographics," he said. "We think we can achieve our goals by tightly focusing on growing successful elements of our current business, adding appropriate extensions and acquisitions, expanding internationally with our retailing partners and by adding additional efficiency to our expense structure."

Shareholders Authorize Change and Elect Two Directors

Changes to the Company's articles of incorporation approved by shareholders Thursday allowed the Company to reduce the size of its Board to eight members. The reduction in Board size is a continuation of a multi-year expense reduction effort begun in fiscal 2009. In conjunction with the changes, shareholders re-elected Director David Nichols to a one-year term and Director Nicholas DiPaolo to a two-year term. The Board is now aligned in two classes of four directors each.

Mr. Nichols, a director since 2005, is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Macy's South Division of Federated Department Stores and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. Mr. DiPaolo, also a director since 2005, is the former Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Bernard Chaus Inc., a women's apparel marketer, and the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Salant Corp., a diversified apparel company.

Retiring Director Edward M. Stan, who ended a 60-year association with the Company at Thursday's meeting, was recognized for his service and awarded the honorary title Director Emeritus. Mr. Stan joined the fledgling R.G. Barry in 1950 and retired from his operational role as Executive Vice President in 1985. He has served continuously as a Director since 1971.

"It is impossible to catalog all that Ed Stan has done for R.G. Barry during the course of a lifetime of service," said R.G. Barry Corporation Chairman Gordon Zacks. "His efforts first as an executive and then as a member of our Board of Directors have in some way benefitted every person touched by this company since 1950; that's millions of customers, consumers, employees, vendors and shareholders. We sincerely thank him."

Shareholders also ratified the reappointment of KPMG LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2011.  

R.G. Barry will announce its first quarter 2011 operating results and conduct a conference call/webcast on Tuesday, November 9.  For details, go to http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=72692 .

About R.G. Barry Corporation

R.G. Barry Corporation, the Dearfoams company, is one of the world's leading developers and marketers of accessory footwear. Visit us online at www.rgbarry.com to learn more about our business.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the disclosures in this news release contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "expect," "could," "should," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," or words with similar meanings. Any statements that refer to projections of our future performance, anticipated trends in our business and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. These statements, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, are based upon our current plans and strategies and reflect our current assessment of the risks and uncertainties related to our business. These risks could include, but are not limited to the following: our continuing ability to source products from third parties located outside North America; competitive cost pressures; the loss of retailer customers to competitors, consolidations, bankruptcies or liquidations; shifts in consumer preferences; the impact of the global financial crisis and general economic conditions on consumer spending; the impact of the highly seasonal nature of our business upon our operations; inaccurate forecasting of consumer demand; difficulties liquidating excess inventory; disruption of our supply chain or distribution networks; and our investment of excess cash in certificates of deposit and other variable rate demand note securities. The risk factors described in this news release, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 3, 2010, give examples of the types of uncertainties that may cause actual performance to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements. If these events occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date on which the statement is made to reflect unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law. Any further disclosures in our filings with the SEC should also be considered.

SOURCE R.G. Barry Corporation