Footwear Insight

With a new corporate parent and new Denver offices, Altra is looking ahead, but new brand president Todd Dalhausser wants the brand to stay focused on what's made them who they are. Q&A 28 • Footwear Insight ~ March/April 2019 footwearinsight.com By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry T odd Dalhausser is getting used to life on the go. Named as president of running brand Altra last November, Dalhausser — the former SVP of Sales for Saucony North America and an industry veteran with history at both Reebok and Vans — is joining the firm at a time of major transition. Started a decade ago by high school friends Golden Harper and Brian Beckstead at the height of the natural motion movement, Altra thrived even as the barefoot phenomenon fizzled thanks to the foot-shaped, zero-drop principals Harper had developed while working in his family's specialty run shop. Last March, VF Corp. announced that it had acquired Altra from Icon Fitness. The deal was completed in June, just two months before it revealed plans to move its operations — including Altra — to Denver. "We'll actually start moving people this month already, believe it or not, with the anticipation that everyone is going to be there by the end of June full-time," Dalhausser says of the move. "We have a beautiful building right downtown, across from Union Station, but it's in the process of being redone completely, so we'll be located in a temp space outside of Denver for a little less than a year." The move has meant that Dalhausser, a longtime Boston-area resident, has spent the first 90 days of his position in the air as he prepares to move his family to Denver at the end of the school year. "I live on airplanes. I've mastered the ability to have only two outfits but have them last 8 days," Dalhausser tells Footwear Insight. But all that flight time has left him with time to work on plans for the brand as it continues its integration into VF's corporate structure — one, he points out, he knows firsthand. "I was at Vans when VF acquired it, so I've had a personal, vested interest in watching this particular [firm]," he says. "And what they excel at is they really allow the brands to remain autonomous, and they allow them to stay connected to their core consumer." And staying connected to the brand identity Harper and Beckstead founded is Dalhausser's priority. "I'm in complete awe of what a couple of young entrepreneurs created in this brand, I really am," he says. "There's no doubt the reason why the brand has been successful is because of how it approaches the business, from [the perspective of] working in a run specialty store and seeing consumer after consumer walk in the door and say 'I have a problem.'" That's good news for running independents. "Shoe companies that don't offer a difference don't create a preference for their brand," says Fleet Feet Maine Running owner John Rogers, noting that the brand's specialty channel focus is an asset. "Altra has continued to grow in our mix in trail and road by evolving their Natural Foot Shape and Zero Drop." Rogers says he sees opportunities for Altra to gain share. "It's primarily a male brand at the moment: Women do hesitate due to the foot shape, but there is a loyal Altra customer developing and there is an opportunity to grow the women's business with a more feminine approach or evolution of the Natural Foot Shape," he says. "The resources VF can offer and the leadership of Todd Dalhausser, who really understands the run specialty channel, business and relationships, should only enhance the brand and help Altra grow. To succeed, they will need to continue to evolve product, commit resources and clean distribution to run specialty, and focus on developing product to grow the female consumer." Matt Powell, an analyst with The NPD Group, agrees that Altra is well positioned. "The performance running business remains challenged, both in the mass market and at specialty, but the small brands in run specialty like Altra, Hoka One One and On Running have had nice increases," he says. "VF has always shown a real cautiousness about new brands: they like to learn them and understand their niche and what they're doing, and they let that go for a period of time. But every brand needs to grow, and there will be pressure to grow and be more broadly distributed." Powell says the challenge will be to take share of a market that's shrinking. "There's definitely a desire for smaller, more niche brands, and I think they can do well," he says. "It's logical to keep their specialty focus, but that doesn't mean you can't have a business outside of specialty." Here, Dalhausser sounds off on areas for growth, what VF is bringing to the table and what makes specialty special. Footwear Insight: As you settle into the new position, what are your priorities for Altra? Todd Dalhausser: "Our biggest challenge is brand awareness: We need to introduce ourselves to consumers. And part of that is that we need to convert at a greater rate with female consumers. One of our innovations has been around building a last that's specific to the female consumer's foot shape, and that's where our proprietary Fit4Her technology and how we've built the shoes comes into play. We've already got this tremendous direction, but we need to grow faster with the female consumer." How are you targeting the women's market specifically? "We've signed on some ambassadors and elite athletes who are going to help us tell the story. We have Kara Goucher now as one of our athletes. Kara is a legend in the running community, and we couldn't be happier to have her to be part of the family. And within that alternative kind of obstacle course type of racing that's exploded in the market, we have Amelia Boone. We have almost 20 athletes that we have as part of our team, and we're finding those elite female consumers who are going to help us to convert consumers and grow our brands." Altra Aims High Todd Dalhausser was named president of running brand Altra last November.

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