Short-lived tenure for Wolverine CEO
Footwear group Wolverine Worldwide has announced that chief executive, Brendan Hoffman has left the company, a little over 18 months after taking the role.
Mr Hoffman joined Wolverine in 2020 and became company president in September that year. The group said from the outset that its aim was for Brendan Hoffman to take over from Blake Krueger as chief executive, a transition that took place at the end of 2021. Mr Krueger had worked at Wolverine for 28 years and been its chief executive since 2007.
In 2021, the group announced the surprise acquisition of UK-based clothing brand Sweaty Betty, with Mr Hoffman saying this aligned perfectly with the group’s strategic growth plan and would help it build its portfolio “beyond footwear”.
At the end of 2022, the group announced it wanted to sell its in-house supplier of leather and one of its footwear brands, Keds. The Designer Brands group completed the acquisition of Keds in February 2023. The search for a buyer for Wolverine Leathers is ongoing.
In May 2023, the group announced it was “exploring strategic alternatives” for another of its footwear brands, Sperry.
On announcing its half-yearly results, Wolverine said company president, Chris Hufnagel, was taking over as chief executive. Mr Hufnagel has worked at the group since 2008. Before that, he held senior roles at Under Armour, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch.
