**EXHIBIT 10.27**

 

**EMPLOYMENT NON-COMPETE, NON-SOLICIT AND CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT**

 

**THISEMPLOYMENT NON-COMPETE, NON-SOLICIT AND CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT (“AGREEMENT”)IS ENTERED INTO BETWEEN CITI TRENDS, INC. (“COMPANY”), AND DAVID ALEXANDER (“EMPLOYEE”),EFFECTIVE AS OF THE 5TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 2008.**

 

For and in consideration of the mutual covenants andagreements contained herein and other good and valuable consideration, thereceipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties agree:

 

1.                                       Employment; Scope of Services. Company shall employ Employee, and Employee shall be employed byCompany, as its President & Chief Operating Officer (“PCOO”).  Employee shall use his best efforts and shalldevote his full time, attention, knowledge and skills to the faithfulperformance of his duties and responsibilities as a Company employee.  Employee shall have such authority and suchother duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer.  Employee shall complywith Company’s policies and procedures, shall conduct himself as an ethicalbusiness professional, and shall comply with federal, state and local laws.

 

2.                                       At-Will Employment. Nothing in this Agreement alters the at-will employment relationshipbetween Employee and Company.  Employmentwith Company is “at-will” which means that either Employee or Company mayterminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without notice, withor without cause. The date of Employee’s cessation of employment for any reasonis the “Separation Date.”

 

3.                                       Confidentiality.

 

(a)                                  Employee acknowledges and agrees that (1) theretail sale of value-priced/off-price family apparel is an extremelycompetitive industry; (2) Company has an ongoing strategy for expansion ofits business in the United States; (3) Company’s major competitors operatethroughout the United States and some internationally; and (4) because ofEmployee’s position as PCOO he will have access to, knowledge of, and beentrusted with, highly sensitive and competitive Confidential Information (asdefined in subsection (b) below) of Company, including without limitationinformation regarding sales margins, purchasing and pricing strategies,marketing strategies, vendors and suppliers, plans for expansion and placementof stores, and also specific information about Company’s districts and stores,such as staffing, budgets, profits and the financial success of individualdistricts and stores.

 

(b)                                 “Confidential Information” includes technicalor sales data, formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods,techniques, drawings, processes, financial data and statements, financial plansand strategies, product plans, sales or advertising information and plans,marketing information and plans, pricing information, the identity or lists ofemployees, vendors and suppliers of Company, and confidential or proprietaryinformation of such employees, vendors and suppliers. Employee acknowledges andagrees that all Confidential Information is confidential and remains the soleand exclusive property of Company. Employee agrees that he shall (a) hold all Confidential Informationin strictest confidence; (b) not disclose, reproduce, distribute orotherwise disseminate such Confidential Information, and shall protect such ConfidentialInformation from disclosure by or to others; and (c) make no use of suchConfidential Information without the prior

 

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writtenconsent of Company, except in connection with Employee’s employment withCompany. “Confidential Information” means any and all data and informationrelating to Company which (i) derive independent economic value, actual orpotential, from not being generally known or readily ascertainable by propermeans by other persons who may obtain economic value from their disclosure oruse; and (ii) are the subject of reasonable efforts under thecircumstances to maintain their secrecy.

 

(c)                                  Inthe event any Confidential Information does not qualify for protection as “tradesecrets” as defined in Delaware’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act, then Employeeacknowledges and agrees that the Confidential Information shall remainconfidential and shall not be disclosed by Employee during Employee’semployment with Company and for a period of two (2) years following theSeparation Date, absent the express prior written consent of Company.   Trade secret information shall remainconfidential so long as such information qualifies as a trade secret underapplicable law.

 

(d)                                 Employee acknowledges that Company hasprovided or will provide Employee with Company property, including withoutlimitation employee handbooks, policy manuals, price lists, financial reports,and vendor and supplier information,****among otheritems. Upon the Separation Date, or upon the request of Company, Employee shallimmediately deliver to Company all property belonging to Company, includingwithout limitation all Confidential Information and any property related toCompany, whether in electronic or other format, as well as any copies thereof,then in Employee’s custody, control or possession.  Upon the Separation Date, Employee shallprovide Company with a declaration certifying that all Confidential Informationand any other Company property have been returned to Company, that Employee hasnot kept any copies of such items or distributed such items to any third party,and that Employee has otherwise complied with the terms of Section 3 ofthis Agreement.

 

4.                                       Covenant Not to Compete. During Employee’s employment with Company and for a period of one (1) yearfollowing the Separation Date, and regardless of the reason for separation,Employee shall not compete with Company on behalf of a Competitor in thecontinental United States**,**or renderingservices to such Competitor which are the same or substantially similar to theServices****which Employee rendered to Companywhile employed by Company as PCOO.  Forpurposes of this Section 4, the term “Competitor” shall mean only thefollowing businesses whose primary business is the sale of value-priced oroff-price family apparel, commonly known as: Cato, TJX (including withoutlimitation TJMAXX and Marshalls), and Ross Stores.

 

5.                                       Covenant Not to Solicit.  During Employee’s employment with Company and for a period of two (2) yearsfollowing the Separation Date, and regardless of the reason for separation,Employee agrees not to solicit any person or entity who has been a vendor orsupplier of merchandise and/or inventory to Company during the two (2) yearsimmediately preceding the Separation Date or to whom Company is activelysoliciting for the provision of merchandise and/or inventory (collectivelyreferred to as “Merchandise Vendors”) and with whom Employee had materialcontact for the purpose of obtaining merchandise and/or inventory on behalf ofany of Company’s Competitors, as defined in Section 4 of thisAgreement.  For purposes of thisagreement “material contact” means that Employee either had access toconfidential information regarding the Merchandise Vendor, or was directlyinvolved in negotiations or retention of such Merchandise Vendor.

 

Employeespecifically acknowledges and agrees that, as PCOO, his duties include, withoutlimitation, establishing purchasing and pricing strategies and policies,managing sales margins, involvement in establishing and maintaining vendorrelationships, and having contact with and

 

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confidentialand/or proprietary information regarding Merchandise Vendors. Thenon-solicitation restrictions set forth in this Section 5 are specificallylimited to Merchandise Vendors with whom Employee had contact (whetherpersonally, telephonically, or through written or electronic correspondence)during his employment as PCOO or about whom Employee had confidential orproprietary information because of his position with Company.

 

# 6.                                       CovenantNot to Recruit Personnel. During Employee’s employment with Company and for a period of two (2) yearsfollowing the Separation Date, and regardless of the reason for separation,Employee will not recruit or solicit to hire or assist others in recruiting orsoliciting to hire, any employee of Company and will not cause or assist othersin causing any employee of Company to terminate an employment relationship withCompany.

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# 7.                                       Severability.  If any provision of this Agreement shall beheld invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable, in whole or in part, theremaining provisions, and any partially enforceable provisions to the extentenforceable, shall be binding and remain in full force and effect.  Further, each particular prohibition or restrictionset forth in any Section of this Agreement shall be deemed a severableunit, and if any court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator determines thatany portion of such prohibition or restriction is against the policy of the lawin any respect, but such restraint, considered as a whole, is not so clearlyunreasonable and overreaching in its terms as to be unconscionable, the courtor arbitrator shall enforce so much of such restraint as is determined by apreponderance of the evidence to be necessary to protect the interests of Company.

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# 8.                                       Survivalof Covenants.  All rights andcovenants contained in Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this Agreement, and allremedies relating thereto, shall survive the termination of this Agreement forany reason.

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# 9.                                       GoverningLaw.  Citi Trends, Inc. is a Delawarecorporation.  The parties agree thatDelaware law applies in the event of any dispute between them arising out of orrelated to this Agreement.

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# 10.                                 Acknowledgmentof Reasonableness/Remedies/Enforcement.

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# (a)                                  Employeeacknowledges that (1) Company has valid interests to protect pursuant toSections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this Agreement; (2) his breach of theprovisions of Sections 3, 4, 5,****or6 of this Agreement would result in irreparable injury and permanent damage toCompany; and (3) such restrictions are reasonable and necessary to protectthe interests of Company, are critical to the success of Company’s business,and do not cause undue hardship on Employee.

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# (b)                                 Employeeagrees that determining damages in the event of a breach of Sections 3, 4, 5,or 6 by Employee would be difficult and that money damages alone would be aninadequate remedy for the injuries and damages which would be suffered byCompany from such breach.  Employeefurther agrees that injunctive relief is an appropriate remedy for such breachand that in the event of such breach Company, in addition to and withoutlimiting any other remedies or rights which it may have, may apply to any courtof competent jurisdiction and seek interim, provisional, injunctive, or otherequitable relief until the arbitration award on such claim (see Section 10(c) below)is rendered or the claim is otherwise resolved. Employee may also seek interim, provisional, injunctive, or otherequitable relief for violations of this Agreement by Company until the arbitrationaward on such claim is rendered or the claim is otherwise resolved.  Employee and Company waive any requirementthat a bond or any other security be posted.

 

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(c)                                  Company and Employee agree that anycontroversy, dispute, or claim arising out of or related to this Agreement,including without limitation its enforceability, interpretation, performance ornon-performance by any party, or any breach thereof, shall be resolvedexclusively through arbitration pursuant to the Employment Arbitration Rules andMediation Procedures of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), Amendedand Effective July 1, 2006 (“AAA Rules”). Where the AAA Rules and this Agreement conflict or where the AAA Rules aresilent, this Section 10(c) shall govern, if applicable.  Company and Employee agree that this Section 10(c) isan agreement to arbitrate pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1*et seq.*, or if that Act is inapplicablefor any reason, the arbitration law of the State of Delaware.

 

(i)                                     Any arbitration proceedings pursuant to thisAgreement shall be resolved by a single arbitrator.  The location of any arbitration proceedingsshall be determined in accordance with the AAA Rules.  The arbitrator shall apply the law of theState of Delaware on the substantive claims asserted, and shall have theauthority to award the same remedies, damages, costs, expenses and any otherawards that a court could award.  Thearbitrator shall issue a written award explaining his/her decision, the reasonsfor the decision, and the calculation and reasoning behind any damagesawarded.  The arbitrator’s decision willbe final and binding.  The judgment onthe award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court havingjurisdiction thereof.  Company will pay (a) AAAadministrative fees except that for arbitration claims originally assertedby Employee, Employee will pay to Company a fee that is comparable to thefiling fee being charged by the United States District Court for the Districtof Delaware for the filing of a civil action at the time Employeeinitiates arbitration; (b) the Arbitrator’s fee and reasonable travelexpenses; and (c) the cost of renting an arbitration hearing room, ifnecessary.  Each party shall pay its ownexperts’ and/or attorneys’ fees unless the arbitrator awards reasonable experts’and/or attorneys’ fees to Employee.

 

(ii)                                  Consistent with Section 7 of thisAgreement, should a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator determinethat the scope of any provision of this Section 10(c) is too broad tobe enforced as written, Company and Employee intend that the court orarbitrator reform the provision to such narrower scope as is determined to bereasonable and enforceable.

 

(iii)                               Should this Section 10(c) not beinvoked by the parties or should an arbitrator or court of competentjurisdiction determine that the parties’ agreement to arbitrate isunenforceable,****then the parties agree thatDelaware shall be the forum for any dispute arising out of or related to thisAgreement.

 

# 11.                                 Miscellaneous.  This Agreement constitutes the entireagreement between the parties and supersedes any and all prior contracts,agreements, or understandings between the parties which may have been enteredinto by Company and Employee relating to the subject matter hereof.  ** **This Agreement may not be amendedor modified in any manner except by an instrument in writing signed by bothCompany and Employee.  The failure ofeither party to enforce at any time any of the provisions of this Agreementshall in no way be construed to be a waiver of any such provision or the rightof such party thereafter to enforce each and every such provision.  No waiver of any breach of this Agreementshall be held to be a waiver of any other or subsequent breach.  All remedies are cumulative, including theright of either party to seek equitable relief in addition to money damages.

 

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**EMPLOYEE ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT HE HAS CAREFULLY READTHIS AGREEMENT AND KNOWS AND UNDERSTANDS ITS CONTENTS, THAT HE ENTERS INTO THISAGREEMENT KNOWINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY, AND THAT HE INDICATES HIS CONSENT BYSIGNING THIS FINAL PAGE.**

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the partieshereto have executed this Agreement under seal as of the day and year firstabove written.

 
|   | Citi Trends, Inc.               |
|--------|--------------------------------------|
|   |                                 |
|   |                                 |
|   | By:                                  | /s/ R. Edward Anderson |
|   | R. Edward Anderson                   |
|   | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
|   |                                 |
|   |                                 |
|   | /s/ David Alexander                  | (L.S.) |
|   | Employee Signature                   |
|   |                                 |
|   | Employee Residence  Address:         |
|        |                                      |  |  |

 

 

 

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