Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS) (http://www.brownshoe.com/)
has made four strategic additions to the leadership team within its
American Sporting Goods (ASG) division, appointing James M. Hoff as vice
president-Sales across all ASG brands, Alan Vickers as vice
president-International, Brad Little as vice president & brand
manager-Avia® and Nevados®, and Jorge Cabrera as vice president-Athletic
Product Development.
Timothy J. Joyce, who took on the role of senior vice president &
general manager of ASG in May, was instrumental in the selection of the
vice presidents. The evolution of the new ASG team is the result of a
six-month transition following Brown Shoe's acquisition of ASG in
February, adding the Avia, ryka®, AND 1® and Nevados brands to the
healthy living area of its portfolio.
"With this tremendous leadership team now in place, coupled with Tim
Joyce and the existing ASG talent, we are moving forward to truly
realizing our investment in ASG. Strengthening these brands continues
our commitment to consumers pursuing healthy lifestyles, and expands the
reach to customers of our performance athletic, sport and outdoor
offerings," said Brown Shoe president and chief executive officer Diane
Sullivan.
Hoff, Vickers
Hoff will be responsible for sales and distribution strategies across
the entire ASG family of brands, working closely with vice
president-Sales Bob Echterling. He has nearly 20 years of experience
with ASICS America, most recently as vice president, Sales-Athletic
Footwear, Apparel, Accessories, where he led sales management teams for
North, Central and South America. Vickers will guide the division's
international expansion by refining and broadening retail distribution
and merchandising. He brings to Brown Shoe a thorough knowledge of the
international sports and consumer goods markets honed through a series
of management positions with companies like Reebok, Nautilus and
Starbuck's throughout North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East,
including four years as president of Nike France.
Little, Cabrera
Little's responsibilities for the Avia and Nevados brands include
product development leadership and advancing brand strategy through
consumer insights. He brings to Brown Shoe more than 25 years of brand
management, sales, marketing and product development experience in the
athletic footwear and apparel industries with Le Chameau premium
handcrafted rubber boots, Decker's Outdoor, Columbia Sportswear and
Nike. Little started in the industry with adidas, growing the brand's
running business in a series of positions over seven years. Cabrera
joined Brown Shoe in 2010 to oversee product development and design of
athletic footwear across several healthy living brands, and now moves to
focus exclusively on ASG. His background includes more than 22 years of
experience in athletic footwear and apparel manufacturing, operations,
product development, and logistics, most recently as vice
president-Operations and Manufacturing at Brooks Sports. Prior to
joining Brooks Sports in 1992, Cabrera held production-focused positions
at Wolverine Worldwide and LA Gear.
"Jim and Alan's expertise setting successful domestic and international
sales strategies in the sport, fitness and wellness areas are critical
to our efforts to expand distribution to existing customers and add new
ones, driving sustainable growth for ASG brands. Brad's vision and
product development knowledge paired with Jorge's prowess with
performance design and technology will enable us to connect more deeply
with consumers as we enhance each brand's positioning in the
marketplace," said Joyce.
About American Sporting Goods Division
ASG's key brands include Avia athletic shoes for men, women and
children, ryka women's fitness footwear, AND 1 basketball shoes for men
and boys and Nevados outdoor footwear for men, women and children. Avia
has a more than 30-year history of offering technical running, walking
and fitness footwear featuring innovative technology at a value. Its
offerings appeal to hard-core runners and casual walkers alike. ryka is
a women's fitness and lifestyle brand created to accommodate the unique
needs of a woman's physiology. The brand embraces healthy lifestyles and
celebrating women by maintaining alliances throughout the women's
fitness community, and counts daytime television's Kelly Ripa as a
partner. AND 1 is a men's performance basketball and lifestyle brand
that caters to basketball participants and enthusiasts. The brand's
global appeal is driven by its authentic heritage in the sport and
advanced technology features to enhance players' game. Nevados hiking
and trail footwear and sport sandals offer a combination of performance
technology, comfort and value for adults and kids that are passionate
about outdoor adventures.
About Brown Shoe Company, Inc.
Brown Shoe is a $2.7 billion global footwear company. Brown Shoe's
Retail division operates Famous Footwear(TM), a leading family branded
footwear destination with over 1,100 stores nationwide and e-commerce
site FamousFootwear.com, approximately 250 specialty retail stores in
the U.S., Canada, and China primarily under the Naturalizer® brand name,
and footwear e-tailer shoes.com. Through its wholesale divisions, Brown
Shoe designs and markets leading fashion and athletic footwear brands
including Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's®, LifeStride®, Sam Edelman®, Franco
Sarto(TM), Via Spiga®, Etienne Aigner(TM), Vera Wang Lavender(TM),
Avia®, ryka®, AND 1®, and Buster Brown(TM). Brown Shoe press releases
are available on the Company's website at http://www.brownshoe.com/.
