Sales Director Replaces CEO at Wilderness

Gregory Thomsen, who last year kept his job as president and chief executive of Wilderness Experience by surviving a proxy fight, has been replaced as the head of the money-losing Chatsworth company.

The new president is Bernard Kramer, 62, who for the past year has been director of sales and marketing for Wilderness Experience, which makes high-end outdoor clothing and gear. Kramer previously was a senior vice president with New Jersey-based Interstate Department Stores, a subsidiary of Toys R Us.

Wilderness Experience said Thomsen, 34, resigned as an officer Nov. 21, but will remain a director and will continue to oversee the company’s design and merchandising operations. Thomsen could not be reached for comment, and the company did not elaborate on the reason for management change.

Thomsen’s resignation comes as the company continues to see losses and declining sales. In the nine months ended July 31, the firm lost $532,000 on sales that fell 38.4% from a year earlier to $2.9 million. The company has cut employment to 72 from more than 120 in mid-1985.

Last year, Thomsen survived a proxy fight for control of Wilderness Experience that was led by his older brother, Jim, with whom he built the company in the 1970s.

The attempt failed when MarBen, a Los Angeles-based investment group with a controlling stake in Wilderness Experience, supported the younger Thomsen. Jeffrey C. Barbakow, general partner for MarBen, said the group did not force Gregory Thomsen’s resignation.

Kramer said his first task as Wilderness president will be to continue keeping overhead down while overseeing a more aggressive marketing strategy. In the past, the company has sold its goods primarily through specialty camping stores, but Kramer said he now wants to put Wilderness Experience products on the floor of large department stores like Nordstrom.