Head of Local Clothing Chain Becomes an 'Undercover Boss' for National TV Show
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Delaware Valley-based discount clothing chain gets its turn in the national spotlight this weekend.
Rick Forman, CEO and founder of the Pennsauken, NJ-based Forman Mills Clothing Factory Warehouse chain, went under cover recently -- complete with fake moustache and aviator eyeglasses -- to be transformed into "Brad Bandini," a new employee, for the hit CBS Television series "Undercover Boss."
"It was definitely uncomfortable," says the founder of the $275-million chain, recalling the oversized wig that was used by producers to help hide his identity. "It was a mullet. I mean, this was definitely of the '70s."
He went undetected over the course of ten days, going to work in some of his 35 stores and working side-by-side with some of his 2,900 employees.
(Clip of supervisor:) "Brad, I'm going to need you to stay focused. I don't know how many times I have to say that."
"I thought I knew it all," Forman said after it was all over. "And I can understand how people don't respect sometimes what you have to say. You've got to be in the trenches. You've got to get back to basics, and that is what it forced me to do. A lot of times I don't want to do that. It was an eye-opener. It was really fantastic."
Employee Kurtis Deal, of the Rising Sun Avenue store, thinks it was fantastic, too.
"The greatest thing about it is that when I got with Rick and we did some of the things that we did, he's really given me a platform for some of the things that is near and dear to my heart."
The Forman Mills episode of "Undercover Boss" aired Sunday night. If you missed it, CLICK HERE.