Times Mirror’s Willes Is Elected to Mattel Board
Times Mirror Co. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Mark H. Willes has been elected to the board of directors of Mattel Inc., the El Segundo-based toy manufacturer said Tuesday.
Mattel Chairwoman and Chief Executive Jill E. Barad described Willes, 58, as “an incredible corporate leader known for his effectiveness and integrity.” Willes joined Times Mirror, which publishes the Los Angeles Times, in 1995 after serving as vice chairman of General Mills Inc.
Mattel reported an 81% increase in operating profit for the second quarter, but a $345-million pretax charge to cover merger and restructuring costs resulted in a $204.3-million loss for the period.
Mattel, which in April cut 3,000 jobs and closed some plants, has been struggling to reverse a sales slowdown caused in part by weak foreign sales. It also is in the process of integrating Learning Cos., the consumer software company it purchased in May for $3.6 billion.
Barad, who is credited with helping build Mattel’s Barbie doll into a $1-billion business earlier in the decade, must also deal with dramatic changes in the way toys are sold in the U.S., where discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores and online stores such as EToys are siphoning sales from traditional toy retailers.
* Mixx Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based online company targeting youths under 21, has named John Parker its new president and chief operating officer. Parker spent the last five years at Hong Kong-based KPS Entertainment.
* Homestore.com Inc. of Thousand Oaks has named three executives from CNN Interactive, the online arm of Cable News Network, to its business development group. They are Louis Lettes, Jeff Garrard and Sonia Mize.
