Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of
Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On November 22, 2016, Kirklands Inc. (the Company) announced that it had named Mike Cairnes to
the newly-created position of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President effective
November 28, 2016. As Chief Operating Officer and under the direction of the Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Cairnes will be responsible for the daily operation of the Company and will help
implement the strategy for the Companys Stores and Merchandising operations. He will also be
responsible the Companys Ecommerce operations, as well as Planning, Allocations and Supply Chain
operations, and report to the Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Cairnes, age 57, served as the President of the Aaron Brothers and Artistree divisions of
Michaels Inc., a publicly-traded retailer of arts, crafts and custom framing. He was President of
Artistree from June of 2007 through August of 2016, and President of Aaron Brothers from September
of 2015 through August of 2016. Prior to joining Michaels in 2006 as a Divisional Merchandise
Manager, Mr. Cairnes held various leadership positions with Brushstrokes, Larson-Juhl and Texas
Instruments.
The Company and Mr. Cairnes also entered into an employment agreement (the Employment Agreement),
with an effective term that will commence on November 28, 2016 and continue for an indefinite term
(the Term), until terminated as provided in the Employment Agreement. The Employment Agreement
provides Mr. Cairnes with the following compensation and benefits: (a) annual base salary of no
less than $400,000, subject to periodic review and adjustment in the discretion of the Board of
Directors of the Company (the Board) or the Compensation Committee of the Board; (b)
participation in any annual bonus plans maintained by the Company for its senior executives with a
target amount for such bonus to be 75% of Mr. Cairness base salary; (c) participation in any
equity-based compensation plans maintained by the Company for its senior executives at the
discretion of the Compensation Committee; and (d) participation in all employee benefit plans or
programs for which any member of the Companys senior management is eligible under any existing or
future Company plan or program.
The Company may terminate Mr. Cairness employment hereunder at any time either for any or no
reason, and Mr. Cairnes may terminate his employment hereunder for Good Reason or upon thirty days
advance notice without Good Reason. The term Good Reason is defined in the Employment Agreement
to mean the occurrence of any of the following: (i) the assignment to Mr. Cairnes of any duties
inconsistent with Mr. Cairness position, authority, duties or responsibilities, or any other
action by the Company which results in a material diminution in such position, authority, duties or
responsibilities; (ii) a reduction by the Company in Mr. Cairness annual salary, provided that if
the salaries of substantially all of the Companys senior executive officers (including the
Companys President and CEO) are contemporaneously and proportionately reduced, a reduction in Mr.
Cairness salary will not constitute Good Reason hereunder; (iii) the failure by the Company,
without Mr. Cairness consent, to pay to him any portion of his current compensation, except
pursuant to a compensation deferral elected by Mr. Cairnes, other than an isolated and inadvertent
failure which is remedied by the Company promptly after receipt thereof given by Mr. Cairnes; (iv)
the relocation of the Companys principal executive offices to a location more than 35 miles from
the current location of such offices, or the Companys requiring Mr. Cairnes to be based anywhere
other than the Companys principal executive offices, except for required travel on the Companys
business; or (v) the failure of the Company to obtain a satisfactory agreement from any successor
to assume and agree to perform this Agreement.
If the Company terminates Mr. Cairness employment without Cause or if Mr. Cairnes resigns for Good
Reason, the Company shall pay Mr. Cairnes one times his Base Salary for the year in which such
termination shall occur in regular payroll cycles. The term Cause is defined in the Employment
Agreement to mean the occurrence of any of the following, as determined in good faith by the Board:
(i) alcohol abuse or use of controlled drugs (other than in accordance with a physicians
prescription) by Mr. Cairnes; (ii) illegal conduct or gross misconduct of Mr. Cairnes which is
materially and demonstrably injurious to the Company or its Affiliates including, without
limitation, fraud, embezzlement, theft or proven dishonesty; (iii) Mr. Cairness conviction of a
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony; (iv) Mr. Cairness entry of a guilty or nolo
contendere plea to a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony; (v) Mr. Cairness material
breach of any agreement with, or duty owed to, the Company; or (vi) Mr. Cairness failure, refusal
or inability to perform, in any material respect, his duties to the Company, which failure
continues for more than 15 days after written notice thereof from the Company.
The payment of any severance by the Company to Mr. Cairnes is conditioned upon the execution and
delivery by Mr. Cairnes of a release in the form of the release attached as an exhibit to the
Employment Agreement. If Mr. Cairness employment with the Company ceases for any reason
(including but not limited to termination (a) by the Company for Cause, (b) as a result of Mr.
Cairness death, (c) as a result of Mr. Cairness Disability or (d) by Mr. Cairnes without Good
Reason) other than as a result of the Company terminating him without Cause or by his resignation
for Good Reason, then the Companys obligation to Mr. Cairnes will be limited solely to the payment
of accrued and unpaid base salary through the date of such cessation.
The Employment Agreement also contains a non-competition agreement from Mr. Cairnes by which he
agrees to not be employed by a list of companies identified in the Agreement for a period of 12
months from the date of his termination. The Company also has the option to extend the term of Mr.
Cairness non-competition agreement for up to an additional 12 months by agreeing to pay him his
base salary in substantially equal monthly installments for the number of months that the Company
elects to extend the non-competition agreement as severance. The Employment Agreement also
contains other standard restrictive covenants such as confidentiality, works for hire and
non-solicitation.
In addition to his base compensation, Mr. Cairnes will receive 12,000 stock options and 6,000
restricted stock units upon his joining the Company. Both equity awards will vest ratably over a
period of four years.
There is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Cairnes and any other person pursuant to which
Mr. Cairnes was selected as an officer. Mr. Cairnes is not a party to any transaction with any
related person required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
The preceding description of the Employment Agreement is a summary of its material terms, does not
purport to be complete, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Employment Agreement,
a copy of which is being filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated
herein by reference.