Blyth, Inc. Names Robert B. Goergen, Jr. President amp;; COO

GREENWICH, Conn., Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: [ BTH ]), a direct to consumer company and leading designer and marketer of candles, accessories for the home, and health and wellness products sold through the direct selling and direct marketing channels, today announced that Robert B. Goergen, Jr. will assume the newly-created role of President & Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Goergen, Jr. will retain his responsibilities as President, PartyLite Worldwide.

Mr. Goergen, Jr. joined Blyth in 2000, initially overseeing Blyth's web-oriented initiatives and strategic technology investments and, later, its acquisition strategy and implementation. He championed the initiative to expand Blyth's direct-to-consumer presence, leading Blyth's entry into the Catalog & Internet channel with the acquisitions of a series of general merchandise and health and wellness catalog brands. In 2004, Mr. Goergen, Jr. was named President, Catalog & Internet Group. Shortly thereafter, he assumed the additional responsibility for Blyth's Wholesale businesses, merging it with the direct-to-consumer business in the newly-formed Multi-Channel Group. In this capacity, he supported the expansion of direct selling while overseeing the divestitures that completed Blyth's strategic transformation to a direct-to-consumer business.

Earlier this year, Mr. Goergen, Jr. was appointed President, PartyLite Worldwide, having played an active role in overseeing new Blyth investments in PartyLite in addition to his other responsibilities. Having worked closely with both the North American and European management teams, Mr. Goergen, Jr. noted at that time, "This is an exciting time for PartyLite and one that holds great promise. The PartyLite brand is well-known for providing an exceptional customer experience and yet the company has underperformed against the opportunity. I look forward to working with the entire management team to build upon PartyLite's strong foundation to restore healthy sales growth and increasing profitability." While still early in the process, Mr. Goergen, Jr. noted in Blyth's recent third quarter 2012 earnings announcement that, based on initial results, the company is moving forward with investments in PartyLite that include exciting new product launches and, in Europe, online ordering and consultant websites.

Commenting on Blyth's new senior leadership structure, Robert B. Goergen, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer said, "Over the past twelve years, Rob has brought a passion and focus to a broad range of activities at Blyth, most recently at our core direct selling business, PartyLite. While continuing to execute specific initiatives at PartyLite, Rob, in his expanded role of President and Chief Operating Officer, is also charged with ensuring that Blyth achieve its vision of delivering an outstanding customer experience across all of its businesses, with unmatched product offerings and superior customer service. Moreover, having Rob focus more broadly across Blyth's operations allows me to concentrate my efforts on critical non-operating activities, including Blyth's capital structure, and, as its Chairman of the Board, supporting ViSalus and its Founders in their growth initiatives as we drive to deliver increased shareholder value."

Blyth, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, CT, USA, is a direct to consumer business focused on direct selling and direct marketing channels. We design and market home fragrance products and decorative accessories, as well as weight management products, nutritional supplements and energy drink mixes. These products are sold through Direct Selling utilizing both home party plan and network marketing. The Company also designs and markets household convenience items and personalized gifts through the catalog/Internet channel. The Company manufactures most of its candles and sources nearly all of its other products. Its products are sold direct to the consumer under the PartyLite^®, Two Sisters Gourmet by PartyLite^® and ViSalus Sciences^® brands and to consumers in the catalog/Internet channel under the As We Change^®, Miles Kimball^®, Exposures^®, Walter Drake^® and Easy Comforts^® brands. In Europe, Blyth's products are also sold under the PartyLite brand.

Blyth, Inc. may be found on the Internet at [ www.blyth.com ].

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the slowing of the United States or European economies or retail environments, the risk that we will be unable to maintain our historic growth rate, our ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risk that we will be unable to integrate the businesses that we acquire into our existing operations, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign sourced products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key corporate management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, risks associated with our information technology systems (including, susceptibility to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins and similar events) and other factors described in this press release and in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K.

SOURCE Blyth, Inc.

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Blyth, Inc. Names Robert B. Goergen, Jr. President amp;; COO