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Joseph S. Vassalluzzo was elected a director of the Company in October 2006. Mr. Vassalluzzo has been an independent advisor to retail organizations, with a primary emphasis on real estate, since August 2005. From 1989 until August 2005, he held executive and senior leadership positions with Staples, Inc., the world-leading seller of office products. In his last role as vice chairman of Staples, he spearheaded the company's rapid worldwide expansion of retail and commercial operations, presiding over the opening of more than 1,600 stores, while overseeing mergers and acquisitions, real estate and environmental initiatives, information services and human resources. Previously, he held management, sales, operations and real estate positions with Mobile Corp., Amerada Hess Corp., and American Stores Company. Mr. Vassalluzzo is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Federal Realty Investment Trust, a publicly held real estate investment trust. He also is a director of Commerce Bancorp, a publicly held bank serving nine states on the east coast, and iParty Corporation, a publicly held retailer of party goods and services.
Mr. Vassalluzzo holds a BS degree in marketing from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Temple University. With his election, the Company's board of directors appointed Vassalluzzo as a member of the Finance Committee. | 