Contempo Casuals CEO to Head Thrifty Drug Chain

Thrifty Corp. has named Eve A. Rich, chairman and chief executive of Contempo Casuals women’s clothing stores, to lead its Thrifty Drug chain, which has faced stiff competition in recent years.

Rich, 49, will assume the position of president at the 577-store drug chain on Dec. 3. The position is a new one at Thrifty, whose stores are located mostly in Southern California.

Rich had been at Los Angeles-based Contempo Casuals, a division of Neiman Marcus Group Inc., for 10 years. Her duties will be assumed by Bernard Zeichner, Contempo’s president and chief operating officer.

“We are extremely pleased to acquire an executive with such experience, a successful track record in the retailing industry and extensive knowledge of the Southern California specialty retailing market,” said Daniel A. Seigel, president and chief operating officer of Thrifty Corp. in a statement.

In August, Seigel replaced Richard G. Eils as president of Thrifty Corp., which also owns Big 5 sporting goods and other retailing operations that total nearly 1,000 stores and about $3 billion in revenue. Eils, who had been president for 10 years, resigned to “pursue other interests,” the company said.

Profit at Thrifty Corp., which is a subsidiary of Pacific Enterprises, has been hurt in recent years by various factors, including price-slashing wars with such rivals as Sav-On drugstores.

To improve earnings, Thrifty has said it will close 50 to 100 poorly performing drugstores and sporting goods outlets during the next two years. As a result of these and other cost-cutting moves, Pacific Enterprises wrote down $100 million in Thrifty assets in the second quarter of this year.