WestPoint Stevens Inc. appoints new President Chief Operating Officer

<%=company1%> announced that M.L. "Chip" Fontenot will join the company as President and Chief Operating Officer effective Jan. 8, 2001. Fontenot will replace Tom Ward, who previously announced that he will retire at the end of 2000.

Fontenot comes to WestPoint Stevens from Dyersburg Corporation, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer for the past two years, responsible for restructuring its knit fabric operations to cut costs and improve its competitive position. Mr. Fontenot has spent more than 30 years in the home fashions and textile industries, having served in various capacities at Springs Industries during a 20-plus-year tenure that included President of Springs' Consumer Products Division. As Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Fit Industries, Fontenot helped assemble a management team that grew sales at a compounded rate of 9%-10% before selling the company five years later to Foamex International.

Holcombe T. Green Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WestPoint Stevens, commented, "We are delighted to have Chip join our company. He embodies the attributes our Board of Directors was looking for in a prospective President and Chief Operating Officer: strong leadership ability; sales and marketing expertise; and, most importantly, a strategic sense regarding the future challenges and opportunities likely to face WestPoint Stevens and the home fashions industry."

WestPoint Stevens Inc. is the nation's leading home fashions consumer products marketing company, with a wide range of bed linens, towels, blankets, comforters, and accessories.

Submitted by WestPoint Stevens Inc.

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