Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT)(NASDAQ:CENTA), a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the lawn and garden and pet supplies market, today announced the appointment of Lori Varlas as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, effective December 1, 2010. Ms. Varlas will report to William E. Brown, Central's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and will be based at the company's headquarters in Walnut Creek, California. She succeeds Stuart Booth who will continue in an advisory role with the company.<br />"Lori represents an important addition to our senior management team," said Mr. Brown. "Her leadership skills, team orientation and broad experience will help us effectively implement our growth plan and business strategies. I look forward to working with her closely."<br /><br />Ms. Varlas brings over 26 years of extensive finance and operational experience. Ms. Varlas joins Central from Sun Microsystems where she served for four years and most recently was Vice President Finance-Enterprise Resources. Prior to joining Sun, Ms. Varlas was Vice President of Finance at Peoplesoft and held a variety of senior finance positions over a seven-year period. Ms. Varlas also held senior finance positions at Chiron Corporation and Specialty Foods. Ms. Varlas began her career at Price Waterhouse where she served for seven years.