Andrew H. Moser’s career spans nearly 20 years with extensive experience in retail, consumer products and commercial lending. He has served as an executive at various retailers and has co-founded and built five different national lending platforms dedicated to financing retail and consumer products companies throughout North America at various levels of the capital structure. These firms provided billions of dollars to hundreds of retailers and consumer products companies under Andy’s leadership. Andy has been involved in many retail sectors including apparel, footwear, textile, furniture and jewelry.
Andy honed his technical, financial and operating skills early in his career at Ames Department Stores, Inc., Laura Ashley Stores North America and Consumer Value Stores, Inc. In each company, Andy was instrumental in helping to formulate and implement strategic plans involving varied aspects of the retail lifecycle, including operational turnarounds, debtor-in-possession reengineering, growth and mergers, acquisitions and asset disposition liquidity events.
In the early 1990s, Andy moved to the Gordon Brothers Companies where he was mentored by a number of the pioneers in the retail finance industry and learned the art and craft of retail asset disposition and valuation. In 1992, Andy co-founded Gordon Brother’s Finance Company (GBFC), the first asset-based lender dedicated solely to retail and consumer products companies. There, he began his commercial lending experience, while continuing first and foremost to look through the eyes of an operator.
In 1997, after GBFC was sold to Bank Boston, Andy partnered with several colleagues to form Paragon Capital, an asset-based lender to mid-size retailers, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer. Profitable from the beginning, Paragon provided capital in unique and opportunistic situations ranging in commitment size from $1 to 20 million, while on occasion partnering with others in transactions as large as $250 million. Filene’s Basement and Jumbo Sports were among the most notable of these transactions. In 2001, with a portfolio nearly $600 million in commitments, Andy and his partners sold Paragon to Wells Fargo Bank and formed Wells Fargo Retail Finance, where Andy served as Co-COO for almost two years.
After leaving Wells Fargo, Andy kept busy with several projects, most notably helping to form a national retail consulting practice known today as Clear Thinking Group. He was then recruited by CapitalSource, a national player in the junior capital business to lead and build a new national lending unit dedicated to the retail and consumer products sector. During its first year of operation, just prior to that company’s IPO, he led his team in developing more than $100 million in new business.
Andy was next recruited by the CEO of GMAC Commercial Finance to co-found and develop GMAC Retail Finance, a national platform specialty lending business with a targeted effort dedicated to the retail sector. While there, Andy recruited a talented team of professionals and led this business forward with a portfolio soon thereafter approaching $2 billion in loans to retail and consumer products companies. Since its inception, the GMAC Retail Finance Group has closed more than 25 new transactions and increased profitability each year.
Andy is a proven industry leader and pioneer in his field with a strong operating and financial background. He is highly regarded as an expert in his field by his peers and retailers throughout North America.
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