GLADSTONE EXITS POST AT WARNACO’S CK UNIT
NEW YORK — Daniel Gladstone is out at The Warnaco Group’s $400 million CK Calvin Klein Jeans unit, where he was president of sales for women’s, juniors and men’s.
Linda Wachner, chairman and chief executive officer of Warnaco, said the company terminated Gladstone’s employment agreement Friday.
She said no successor would be named and the company’s three vice presidents of sales would report directly to Alexander Cannon, president of Warnaco Men’s Wear and CK Calvin Klein Jeans.
Asked for the reason for the termination, Wachner replied, “It was the company’s prerogative to review the progress of his business judgment in the three or four months he had worked for Warnaco, and in our view he didn’t meet the expectations of his agreement.
“We have no hard feelings for him and we wish him good luck,” she added.
Wachner would not disclose the amount of his severance package.
Gladstone could not be reached for comment by press time Monday.
Gladstone is the second executive to be ousted from CK Calvin Klein Jeans since last November, when The Warnaco Group acquired a controlling interest in Designer Holdings Ltd., maker of CK jeanswear. As reported, Arnold Simon, president and ceo of Designer Holdings, received a $4.5 million severance package.
After explosive growth from 1994 to 1996, when the brand catapulted from $59 million to $472 million, CK Calvin Klein jeans stalled in 1997, posting flat sales in many department stores.
According to Wachner, the Calvin Klein Jeans businesses at Warnaco are on line to hit $400 million in 1998, reflecting more disciplined distribution, and the business is projected to grow to $680 million by 2002. Warnaco’s 1997 sales were $1.4 billion.