Wolverine Worldwide announces leadership changes to accelerate global growth
17/06/2014
It has announced that James Zwiers will become president of International (non-US) business. Mr Zwiers has held various leadership roles during his 16 years with the company, including spells as the president of Wolverine’s Performance group, its Outdoor group, of Hush Puppies USA, and as senior vice-president with responsibility for strategy, business development, consumer direct and legal. James Gabel will succeed Mr Zwiers as president of the Performance group, which comprises the Merrell, Saucony, Chaco, Cushe and Patagonia footwear brands.
Chief executive, Blake Krueger, commented on making the announcement: “Jim Zwiers is uniquely qualified to lead the international group as the company expands the reach of its brands around the world. Jim has held significant leadership roles with some of the largest and most international brands in our portfolio, and we are excited to add his talent, passion and experience to the international group. He is the right leader at the right time for this important part of our business.”
For his part, James Gabel comes to Wolverine from serving as president of adidas Canada, where he was responsible for the adidas, Reebok, Rockport, Ashworth, Adams Golf and TaylorMade brands in that market. Prior to that, he was president of Reebok North America and also previously served in a variety of key roles with other performance brands including Champion and Mizuno.
Wolverine has also announced the appointment of Andrew Simister as president of its Lifestyle group, which is comprised of Sperry Top-Sider, Hush Puppies, Keds and the Stride Rite brands. Most recently, Mr Simister was president of the Lacoste Footwear brand for Pentland. Previously, he worked at Puma.
Bill Brown, a 27-year veteran of Wolverine, is to retire. In addition to being the first President of the International group, set up in 2011, Mr Brown held many key leadership roles within the company during his career.
Blake Krueger said on making the announcement that he was grateful for Bill Brown’s “service and unparalleled dedication” to the company during his career.
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