Jeff Gordman is president and CEO of Gordmans, Inc., which operates 86 everyday low price (EDLP) department stores in 18 states throughout the Midwest, employs 4,000 associates and generates annual revenues in excess of $400 million.  Upon assuming his current responsibilities in 1996, Mr. Gordman led a repositioning initiative which included an overhaul of the merchandising, marketing and stores strategy, the development of a store prototype growth vehicle and the execution of a store trade name change from Half Price Store to Gordmans, which was completed in fiscal 2000.  

Mr. Gordman joined Gordmans in 1990 and has held positions in merchandising, store operations and information technology.  Prior to assuming his current position in 1996, Mr. Gordman led the conceptualization and implementation of the merchandise planning and allocation function, after which he was responsible for directing this business function.      

From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Gordman was a mergers and acquisitions analyst for the New York-based investment banking firm now known as Lehman Brothers, and his responsibilities included developing valuations of client and target companies, preparing confidential sales memoranda and performing various financial analyses.  

Mr. Gordman graduated cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, and earned a Master of Science degree in management from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990.

Mr. Gordman serves as a director for Regency Beauty Institute, a high growth, privately-held chain of cosmetology schools headquartered in Minneapolis.  Regency Beauty is a leading portfolio company of LLR, a large private equity firm based out of Philadelphia.   Mr. Gordman also serves as a director for NetShops, an internet retailer ranked number 13 on Inc. Magazine’s 2006 list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in America.
 
Mr. Gordman also serves as a director for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Community Health Charities, and Camp Fire USA.   Mr. Gordman previously served on the boards of the Siena-Francis House, the Omaha Literacy Council and the Jewish Federation of Omaha, and previously was the Chair of the Retail Development Committee of the Omaha Chamber’s Economic Development Council.  

Gordmans was recognized as one of the 25 fastest growing companies in Omaha two consecutive years (2003 and 2004).  The award was then replaced by the Excellence in Business award, of which Gordmans was one of five recipients in the greater than 100 employee category in 2005.  Gordmans also received the Nebraska Retail Federation’s Retailer of the Year award for 2005.