Footwear Insight

14 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2023 footwearinsight.com Dansko ere is a change at the top at Dansko with Kitty Bolinger taking the helm as president. Former CEO Jim Fox has transitioned to the newly established role of executive chairman. Bolinger, who has been with Dansko since 2010, was previously Dansko's EVP of sales & marketing before being promoted to president. She has more than 36 years of footwear industry experience. At Dansko, Bolinger began as national sales manager, and her leadership and understanding of market dynamics paved the way for a series of promotions and increasing respon- sibilities. As Dansko's president, she helms a female-led executive team, including CFO Jamey Mullin, VP of design Kelsey Jayne-Gomez, VP of marketing Christina Sewell, and VP of sourcing Susan Li. Wolverine Worldwide Meanwhile, Wolverine Worldwide, in addition to announcing the planned closure of its Boston office by year-end, named Chris Hufnagel the new pres- ident and CEO at Wolverine Worldwide as Brendan Hoffman departed. By year's end, all Wolverine footwear brands will be consolidated into the company's HQ in Michigan. Hufnagel stated that the company will continue to maintain a "creative hub" in Boston in order to take advantage of the area's creative talent in the footwear industry. Wolverine's Boston office is currently home to the Saucony brand as well as Sperry and Stride Rite. Hufnagel, who had been serving as president of Wolverine since May, was previously president of Wolverine Worldwide's Active Group. He faces numerous challenges at Wolverine, which divested its Keds and Wolverine Leathers businesses earlier this year and is contemplating a sell-off of its Sperry business. Wolverine has experienced accel- erating order cancellations in its U.S. business, which accounts for more than 55 percent of its global revenues, that have been prompted by high overall retail inventory levels in the market. It has also seen a slowdown in new whole- sale orders in the market. Anticipated full-price sales to U.S. wholesalers were replaced with lower gross margin ship- ments to international distributors in Q2. e company, which intends to make $30 million in incremental investments in its business, including $25 million for brand building efforts under Hufnagel's leadership, realized a 17 percent drop in Q2 revenues to $589.1 million. OOFOS Dave Mischler has been promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer at OOFOS aer Steve Gallo le his role as president of OOFOS, the company announced in August. Mischler is responsible for leading the execution of the company's business plan, overseeing all internal affairs and administrative functions, and serving as a conduit for the leadership team. e product development, ecommerce, wholesale sales, sourcing, and global logistics/operations teams will report into him. Mischler has more than 35 years of experience in finance, R&D, supply chain management, Go to Market, and international sales, with most of his career spent in the athletic footwear and apparel industry at Reebok and adidas in a variety of executive leadership roles. Prior to OOFOS, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer for Unifirst, a global leader in uniform rental and supply. n Executive News BUSINESS Kitty Bolinger Chris Hufnagel Dave Mischler THE FOOTWEAR EYE

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