Bob’s Stores/EMS parent names Petty CEO

Meriden, Conn. – Vestis Retail Group, parent company of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), has named James Petty as CEO effective July 8, 2013. Petty most recently served as president of retail stores for Cartier Inc. from 2007 to December 2012 and left the company after it relocated its retail group headquarters from Connecticut to Georgia. He also previously held executive positions at Limited Too and Gap Inc.



He replaces current Vestis CEO Mark Walsh who also serves as a managing director of Versa Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Vestis. Walsh will remain as chairman of Vestis.



"This is a long-planned and natural leadership transition at this stage of Vestis's development," said Gregory Segall, CEO of Versa. "Over the past five years, Mark has done a tremendous job in realizing the potential at Bob's and he led the acquisition and initial transformation at EMS, positioning it for growth. We're looking forward to Mark's contributions to our existing and future investments in the Versa portfolio of companies."