CPI Corp. Board of Directors Names Renato Cataldo President and CEO

CPI Corp. Board of Directors Names Renato Cataldo President and CEO

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CPI Corp. (NYSE:CPY) today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Renato Cataldo, Chief Operating Officer of the Company, to the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Paul Rasmussen is leaving the company.

Commenting on Dr. Cataldo's appointment, David Meyer, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, "During the past two years, my fellow Board members and I have been very impressed with Renato's execution capabilities and his creativity, energy, and unrelenting drive for operational excellence. His understanding of our industry and the role of technology in providing world-class service to our increasingly sophisticated and demanding customers has made him an invaluable contributor to the transformation of the business." Continuing, Mr. Meyer said, "Integrally involved in the turnaround, first as a full-time consultant to the board and then as Chief Operating Officer, Renato is well-suited to consolidate and build on the achievements of the last couple of years as well as execute on the field and marketing priorities established by the board. As importantly, he is also the right person to lead the company for the future as it taps exciting new opportunities to leverage its digital infrastructure and e-commerce capabilities."

Dr. Cataldo commented, "While the operational turnaround has been a great success so far, I am excited that CPI still has many opportunities to improve. Our immediate priority is to drive profitability and return on investment through an intense focus on performance management, while fostering an ever closer alignment of the interests of employees and shareholders."

Dr. Cataldo has served as the Company's Chief Operating Officer since July 2005 after serving as a full-time consultant to the Company's Board of Directors beginning in August 2004 in connection with the Company's digital transition and broader restructuring. Previously, Dr. Cataldo served as President of HealthTech Solutions, an eBusiness development and consulting company he founded in 1993, and, subsequently, as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Publicis eHealth Solutions after Publicis Groupe, S.A, a leading global communications company, purchased HealthTech in 1998. Dr. Cataldo has also owned and operated a professional photography and videography business and served as a professor of pharmacy at the St. Louis School of Pharmacy where he specialized in information technology solutions.

CPI is a portrait photography company offering photography services in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada through Sears Portrait Studios. The Company also operates searsphotos.com, the vehicle for the Company's customers to archive, shares portraits via email and order additional portraits and products.

FCMN Contact: jnelson@cpicorp.com

Source: CPI Corp.

CONTACT: Jane Nelson of CPI Corp., +1-314-231-1575

Web site: http://www.cpicorp.com/
http://searsphotos.com/

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