RETAILING : Ocean Pacific Hires Its Consultant to Be Chief Executive Officer

Ocean Pacific Sunwear Ltd. has hired its consultant as chief executive officer.

A press-shy Lee Katz took over Friday, with company co-founder Jim Jenks promoted to chairman. Katz will handle the Tustin apparel licenser’s day-to-day operations while Jenks will concentrate on developing new products, the company said.

Katz arrives in the wake of a failed deal by the privately held surf wear maker to sell itself to a Menlo Park investment group. Ocean Pacific is one of the largest marketers of surf wear--known for its OP swim trunks, Hydralight wet suits and Newport Blue apparel--in an industry hard hit by recession.

Katz is the former president of a cheerleading-uniform manufacturer and has served as a consultant to companies in fields ranging from communications to warehousing. He holds law and industrial management degrees. Other than that, the company won’t say much about him.