Syms Plans to Stay Public

Secaucus, N.J. Syms Corp.’s chief executive announced at Thursday’s annual meeting that the company will remain a public company, according to Reuters.

Chief Executive Marcy Syms, who along with her father owns the majority of the company's shares, told investors at the meeting that the retailer is not a real estate development company, but defended its decision to own part of its retail space. She followed up the comment by confirming the company has no plans to take Syms private.

"The answer is absolutely not," she said, according to papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Syms, whose motto is "An educated consumer is our best customer," has been criticized by several hedge funds that the company has failed to disclose all of its real estate holdings.

One of the activist hedge funds it has been battling with is Esopus Creek Advisors, which owns nearly 4% of the retailer.

Minority investors have prodded Syms to do more with its real estate holdings to boost shareholder value.