Gotcha Co-Founder Leaves Position

IRVINE — Joel Cooper, a co-founder of Gotcha Sportswear International, has left the executive ranks of the apparel company.

Gotcha Chairman Marvin Winkler said Wednesday that Cooper “wanted to do other things,” including finishing construction of a new home in Laguna Beach.

Cooper, who remains a minority shareholder and director of Gotcha, couldn’t be reached for comment. He was in charge of the company’s GirlStar juniors line and headed its international and domestic licensing operations. He is being succeeded by Don Kerkes, former vice president of sales at Mossimo Inc.

Kerkes, 48, of Laguna Hills, will become vice president of sales for Gotcha’s three apparel lines, Gotcha, MCD and GirlStar. He will head a 32-person staff.

At Mossimo, Kerkes was in charge of sales of the men’s division and helped expand Mossimo’s lines into a national designer name. Before that, he was vice president of sales at Seattle-based Generra Sportswear.

Cooper and fellow native South African Michael Thomson founded Gotcha in 1978, making surf-themed T-shirts and shorts in a garage. Thomson, a former professional surfer, handled the design of the company’s apparel and is the company’s former chairman. Cooper, whose family owned a clothing firm, ran the business side as chief executive. Gotcha’s annual sales grew to $125 million by the early 1990s, before the recession hit.

Today, Gotcha has about 180 employees and annual sales of about $90 million. Winkler became chief executive after buying a controlling interest in the company from Cooper and Thomson earlier this year.