Summer Infant (fka SUMR)

[Theo]

Summer Infant Appoints Lisa Harnisch to Senior Vice President of Sales


WOONSOCKET, RI--(Marketwired - Oct 30, 2014) - Summer Infant, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR), a global leader in premium juvenile products, today announced that Lisa Harnisch has been appointed Senior Vice President of Sales, effective November 3, 2014. Harnisch joins Summer Infant from Toys "R" Us, Inc. where she was Senior Vice President/General Merchandise Manager. At Summer Infant, Harnisch will have an integral role in large customer relationship cultivation, and will work within the sales function on the development and execution of business strategy, financial profitability, product forecasting, and new product marketing. She will report directly to President of Global Sales & Marketing Ken Price.

"Having had the privilege of working with Lisa for many years, I am delighted to have such a highly respected executive join our organization," said Price. "We look forward to leveraging her deep industry experience and broad expertise to strengthen our sales organization."

President and Chief Executive Officer Carol Bramson said, "Establishing strong partnerships with our largest customers is essential to the success of our growth strategy, and we look forward to Lisa's contributions. She is an excellent addition to the highly talented management team that we have built during the past year."

Prior to joining Summer Infant, Harnisch was with Toys "R" Us, Inc. for 12 years. She joined the company in 2002 as a buyer and held roles of increasing responsibility since that time. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President/General Merchandise Manager, where she was responsible for overseeing all merchandising decisions, negotiations with manufacturers and driving the business to achieve corporate strategic goals for the company's toy division. Before Toys "R" Us, Harnisch was a Merchandise and Planning Manager at Ann Taylor, Inc. from 1997 to 2002. She also has held positions as a portfolio manager at ABN AMRO N.V. and a business analyst for Liz Claiborne, Inc. Harnisch earned an M.B.A. from Fordham University and a B.S. from Georgetown University. She was named Wonder Woman of the Year in the retail category by the Women in Toys organization in 2011.

In connection with her employment, Ms. Harnisch was granted (i) an option to purchase 30,000 shares of the Company's common stock, with an exercise price equal to the closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, and (ii) 10,000 shares of restricted stock. Subject to Ms. Harnisch's continued service with the Company, the option vests in equal annual installments over a four year period beginning on the first anniversary of the date of grant and the restricted stock award vests on the first anniversary of the date of grant. The Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors granted these awards as an inducement material to Ms. Harnisch's acceptance of employment in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

About Summer Infant, Inc.
Based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the Company is a global leader of premium juvenile products for ages 0-3 years, which are sold principally to large North American and international retailers. The Company currently sells proprietary products in a number of different categories, including nursery audio/video monitors, safety gates, durable bath products, bed rails, nursery products, strollers, booster and potty seats, swaddling blankets, bouncers, travel accessories, highchairs, swings, nursery furniture, and infant feeding products. For more information about the Company, please visit www.summerinfant.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release that are not historical fact may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements are accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "expect," "project," "will," "believes," "estimate" and similar expressions, and include statements regarding the Company's expectations regarding Lisa Harnisch's future contributions to Summer Infant. The Company cautions that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the concentration of the Company's business with retail customers; the ability of the Company to compete in its industry; the Company's ability to continue to control costs and expenses; the Company's dependence on key personnel; the Company's reliance on foreign suppliers; the Company's ability to develop, market and launch new products; the Company's ability to grow sales with existing and new customers; the Company's ability to meet required financial covenants under its loan agreements; and other risks as detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013, as amended, and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information contained in this release.
Contact:


David Calusdian
Sharon Merrill Associates, Inc.
[e-mail]
617-542-5300