For: Clear Thinking Group, LLC, Hillsborough, N.J.

From: Parness & Associates, Aberdeen, N.J.              

For Immediate Release

PEPE JOINS CLEAR THINKING GROUP AS MANAGING DIRECTOR IN FIRM’S

FINANCIAL ADVISORY AND RESTRUCTURING PRACTICE GROUP

HILLSBOROUGH, N.J (6/18/08) –Gene Pepe, a veteran financial and operational executive with over 30 years experience at major regional retailers and consumer product distributors, has joined Clear Thinking Group LLC, as a managing director in the firm’s Financial and Restructuring Practice Group.

Pepe comes to the Hillsborough-based consulting firm from Popular Club Plan, Totowa, N.J., where, from 2002 -2008, he served as chief financial officer and later, president. During that time, he successfully restructured and repositioned the direct selling catalog company in preparation for its sale. 

From 1998 to 2002, he served as vice president, controller and later vice president, finance for consumer electronics retailer The Wiz, an Edison, N.J.-based unit of Cablevision.  Prior to that, he was vice president, controller at Legacy International, a Mahwah, N.J.-based sporting goods distributor. Earlier in his career, Pepe spent eight years with Herman’s Sporting Goods, Inc., Carteret, N.J., rising from assistant controller to director of financial accounting, and eight years with Channel Home Centers, Whippany, N.J., where he rose through the financial ranks to become accounting manager.

“We are absolutely delighted to have someone with Gene’s financial and operational experience and knowledge joining our firm,” said Stuart Kessler, president and founding partner. “Gene’s extensive track record in assisting financially distressed consumer product and retail companies makes the Clear Thinking Group team even stronger than before.”

Pepe, a resident of Warren, N.J., earned a B.S. in accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J. He is a licensed certified public accountant.

About Clear Thinking Group

Clear Thinking Group is a national advisory organization that provides a unique perspective on business opportunities and challenges in a variety of industries such as: retail, consumer products, manufacturing, automotive, entertainment, textiles, and temporary staffing services. For further information, visit the firm’s website at www.clearthinkinggrp.com.

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Media Contacts:  At Clear Thinking Group, Stuart Kessler or Lee A. Diercks, (908) 431-2121; At Parness & Associates, Bill Parness or Lisa Kreda, (732) 290-0121, E-mail: parnespr@optonline.net.

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