Turnaround Expert Given Award for “Mega Company” Turnaround
SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN (August 24, 2007) – Holly Felder Etlin, a managing director with leading corporate rescue firm AlixPartners, has been awarded the Turnaround Management Association’s 2007 “Mega Company Turnaround of the Year” for her successful turnaround of Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. Etlin will accept the award at the TMA’s Annual Convention, October 16-19, in Boston.
Etlin, then a member of Xroads, served as turnaround advisor to Winn-Dixie, a chain of 913 grocery stores headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. In that role, she assisted the management team in identifying and executing a strategy to reorganize the company around a core footprint of stores. Her efforts also included downsizing general and administrative expenses to fit the new footprint and other cost reduction activities. Moreover, she helped manage vendor relationships, liquidity, and business planning, positioning the chain for success.
Etlin said of the engagement, “This turnaround was truly a group effort between the company’s advisors and a dedicated management team, and it certainly was among the most challenging of assignments for us because it took place in the midst of the worst hurricane season in memory. Thirty percent of Winn-Dixie’s stores were impacted by Hurricane Katrina, but we managed to reopen quickly and simultaneously implement our cost-reduction strategies.”
Etlin has nearly 30 years of experience providing restructuring and reorganization services, including advisory and interim management services, to companies and their creditors in retail, distribution, consumer products, and healthcare industries. Other former clients include Tanner & Haley, Impath (now a division of Genzyme), San Francisco Music Box Company and The Museum Company, and The Forzani Group.
Previously, Eric Simonsen of AlixPartners received the 2006 “International Turnaround of the Year” Award from the TMA for its successful turnaround of the UK’s Jarvis plc.
About AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a global restructuring, consulting, and financial advisory firm. The AlixPartners’ “one-stop-shop” suite of services range from operational performance improvement and financial restructuring across all major corporate disciplines (manufacturing, supply chain, IT, and sales and marketing), to financial advisory services (financial reporting, corporate governance and investigations, and litigation consulting), to technology-enabled claims management. Headquartered in Michigan, the firm has 700 employees in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Düsseldorf, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Tokyo. It is on the Web at www.alixpartners.com. |