Former Gordmans CEO to bid for bankrupt retailer

By

Edina Sultanik

Published
Mar 23, 2017

The midwestern US retail chain Gordmans might be rescued from its recent bankruptcy by a white knight -- former Gordmans Chief Executive Jeff Gordman.  Gordman earlier this week announced a bid to acquire and run the company, which currently operates 100 stores.   

Gordman understands the business like no one else; he worked his way up the ranks of the company, starting as an assistant manager in 1990.  As CEO he grew the business from $195 million to $443 million.  In 2008, Gordman sold the company to a private equity firm that later sold shares to the public.   He left his post abruptly in 2013 after new majority owners began to mismanage the company’s cash.  

Gordman’s bid will include keeping as many stores open as possible, and according to his bid, keep thousands of people employed. “I love this company,” Gordman said in an interview with The Omaha World-Herald newspaper. “I am doing it for the most important stakeholders, the employees that are the heart and soul. I feel an obligation to them.”

Faltering Houston-based chain Stage Stores is also making a bid for Gordmans retail operations and warehouse.