GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 15, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leader in the candles, home fragrance and giftware industry, today announced the appointment of Bruce G. Crain as Senior Vice President. Mr. Crain also assumes the newly created position of President, Wholesale Home Fragrance Group, Candle Corporation Worldwide, overseeing Blyth's global premium and mass channel candle and home fragrance businesses, as well as its foodservice business, The Sterno Group.
Mr. Crain served as President of Blyth's Global Services Group for the past 18 months and retains those responsibilities in his new role. He joined Blyth in 1997 as Vice President, Strategic Market Development and has held several positions since, including Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for PartyLite, Blyth's direct selling business unit, and President, European Affiliate Group, overseeing Blyth's expansion into European-based consumer wholesale businesses. Mr. Crain received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has held a variety of senior general management and finance roles, having been an international management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Commenting on the appointment, Robert B. Goergen, Chairman of the Board and CEO, said, "Bruce Crain has proven himself an effective leader in numerous challenging roles and strategic initiatives throughout the Blyth organization. Blyth's Board and I believe that bringing our worldwide wholesale candle and home fragrance businesses and the core competencies supporting them under a global umbrella will strengthen and streamline this significant part of Blyth's Candles & Home Fragrance segment and position the Company effectively for further growth and increased profitability."
The Company also announced the addition of Stephen Kosmalski to its management team in the newly created role of President and General Manager of Candle Corporation -- North America, overseeing the Company's U.S.-based wholesale candle and home fragrance business. Prior to joining Blyth, Mr. Kosmalski spent five years at International Paper in several senior management roles in both consumer products and business-to-business groups. Prior to that he served as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Gibson Greetings for five years. Mr. Kosmalski was also part of the Revlon organization for 12 years in a variety of sales roles, including Division Vice President, Cosmetics and Fragrance Sales.
Jonathan Poppick assumes the newly created position of Vice President, Global Branding, Candle Corporation Worldwide. Mr. Poppick, who previously served as Blyth's Vice President, Corporate Marketing Initiatives, was instrumental in the creation and launch of the Colonial at HOME(r) brand of patented oval jar candles and related products, which is now the Company's largest wholesale brand and which debuted in Europe late last year with very positive results. In his new role, Mr. Poppick will focus on the development and execution of long-term global brand strategies and positionings. He will also conduct market segmentation studies and identify and evaluate major new business building opportunities in North America and Europe.
Commenting on these appointments, Rich Browning, President of Candle Corporation Worldwide, said, "Steve Kosmalski is an excellent addition to Blyth's Wholesale Home Fragrance Group as his strong management background working in both the premium and mass channels of distribution is indicative of the strengths required to lead this important part of Blyth's consumer wholesale business. Additionally, Jonathan Poppick's demonstrated strategic marketing and brand development leadership will be invaluable as this group focuses on the many opportunities we see in this large and growing market."
Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, designs, manufactures and markets an extensive line of candles and home fragrance products including scented candles, potpourri and other fragranced products, as well as tabletop illumination products and portable heating fuel, and markets a broad range of related candle accessories. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite(r) brand, to retailers in the mid-tier and premium retail channels under the Colonial Candle of Cape Cod(r), Colonial at HOME(r), Kate's(tm) and Carolina(r) brands, in the mass retail channel under the Florasense(r), Ambria(r) and FilterMate(r) brands and to the Foodservice industry under the Ambria(r), Sterno(r) and HandyFuel(r) brand names. In Europe, its products are also sold under the Gies, Ambria, Carolina, Colonial and Wax Lyrical brands. Blyth also markets a broad range of Creative Expressions products, including home decor and giftware products under the CBK(tm) brand, seasonal products under the Midwest of Cannon Falls(r) and JMC Impact(tm) brands, and paper-related products under the Jeanmarie(r) brand. Net Sales for the twelve months ended April 30, 2002 totaled approximately $1,199 million.
Blyth, Inc. can be found on the Internet at www.blythinc.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the current slowing of the United States economy as a whole and the continuing weakness of the retail environment, the effects of our restructuring, the risk that we will be unable to maintain the Company's historic growth rate, the Company's ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, and other factors described in this press release, in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2002 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2002.