Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said it tapped its real estate executive to head up finance for the Anaheim, Calif.-based chain.
The company said in a regulatory filing today that it named Ernie Sibal vice president and chief financial officer last week. He fills a position that had temporarily been held by Chris Tedford, who was serving as interim cfo and resigned Friday to “pursue other endeavors,” the company reported. Pacific Sunwear went on to add in its filing that the resignation was voluntary, making Tedford ineligible for severance.
Sibal, who has been with the company since 2008, most recently served as Pacific Sunwear’s vice president of real estate, construction and strategy, credited with helping the retailer rework its real estate portfolio, which included the closure of its Demo stores in 2008. That was followed in 2011 by a plan to shutter as many as 200 PacSun stores amid a tough operating environment for retail that continues to persist.
The company, earlier this month, filed for bankruptcy and at the time counted 593 stores. That’s likely to shrink even further under the restructure, which president and chief executive officer Gary Schoenfeld said at the time of the bankruptcy announcement would help the company exit some store leases. It also addresses what had been a looming $90 million long-term debt obligation for the company that would have come due this year.
The bankruptcy, which had been expected in the weeks leading up to the announcement, includes $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Wells Fargo with the bank also expected to provide a five-year, $100 million revolving line of credit upon the retailer’s exit from bankruptcy.