Birkenstock appoints Tiffany Wu as MD Greater China

Birkenstock has announced the appointment of Tiffany Wu as managing director Greater China, effective November 1, 2023.

In this newly created position, the company said, Wu will lead the Greater China business area, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, driving brand equity and sales in the region. She reports to Klaus Baumann, chief sales officer of the Birkenstock Group.

With the new appointment the Germany-based brand aims to further strengthen the company’s expanding footprint in the Asia Pacific region, alongside India and Japan. Today, the company operates a rapidly growing e-commerce business in China, which will be supplemented by a strong owned retail presence and wholesale business with select local partners.

Commenting on Wu’s appointment, Oliver Reichert, director of Birkenstock Holding plc and CEO of the Birkenstock Group said: “Greater China is the strongest growth driver for us in the APMA region alongside India and Japan. With the additional capacity that we can allocate since the go-live of our new plant in Pasewalk in September 2023, we now have the bandwidth to satisfy Chinese consumers' appetite for our products. It's the perfect moment for Tiffany Wu to join the team.”

Wu, the company added, brings over 18 years of fashion and luxury end-to-end omni-channel expertise in China. Wu is an expert in driving brands’ commercial strategy, omni channel expansion, brand building and storytelling through China’s ever-changing digital landscape along with a strong marketing and PR foundation.

Wu began her career with PR agency Ogilvy. After three years with the global PR firm, in 2009 she co-founded a leather goods designer brand called Heirloom and successfully sold it ten years later, when the brand was present in 11 countries.

From 2019 onwards, Wu led the Fung Retailing-Asia Retail Company (ARC), which assisted foreign companies in the Chinese market. In 2021, she took on the role of managing the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau) for Blue Nile, the world's largest online diamond sales company.

“As we ramp up our production capacity, we will unlock the large growth potential of China and the whole APMA region, which has generated significant latent demand that we have been unable to fulfil in recent years given more limited supply. Our targeted growth strategies will build upon our growing popularity in the region’s underdeveloped markets, including China, where our brand is nascent,” added Wu.