Friedman's Appoints New President, Chief Operating Officer

Jewelry chain Friedman's has appointed Pamela J. Romano as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Romano, who will oversee the day-to-day store, marketing and merchandising operations of Friedman's 480 stores, will report to CEO, Sam Cusano.

Romano, who has more than 25 years of retail jewelry experience, previously held senior management positions at Macy's and Zales Jewelers.

Most recently, Romano served as Group Senior Vice President of Zale Corporation and President of Zales Jewelers for seven years and also ran Zales.com, the company's Web-based business.

Troubled Friedman's filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on January 14. The cases were filed to alleviate short-term liquidity issues which followed unanticipated limitations by the firm's pre-petition lenders, continue Friedman's ongoing restructuring initiatives, and facilitate its turnaround.

Friedman's has been buffeted in the past year as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department announced they were carrying out fraud investigations into the firm.

In addition, it has also been sued by the states of Texas, Tennessee and Florida for allegedly duping customers into paying for life, property and other insurance while they thought they were insuring their financing of jewelry purchases.

Friedman's has replaced most of its senior executives in the past year, some of whom have lasted only a few months in their positions.