Wolverine Worldwide restructures senior management team

Wolverine Worldwide has announced a new brand operating group structure and associated key leadership appointments. Effective immediately, the company's family of brands will be organised into three new brand operating groups: Wolverine Outdoor and Lifestyle Group having Merrell, Chaco, Cat Footwear, Hush Puppies and Sebago under its fold, Wolverine Boston Group with Sperry, Saucony, and Keds and Wolverine Heritage Group housing Wolverine, Bates, Harley-Davidson Footwear and HyTest labels.

The Company also operates a dedicated International Group designed to drive growth in all regions outside of North America and the Consumer Direct Group (including the Stride Rite Children's Group) that leads Wolverine's direct-to-consumer initiatives.

"I am very excited about our new brand group structure and am especially pleased that we have the talent and depth to promote from within the organization," stated Blake W. Krueger, Wolverine Worldwide's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President.

Senior executive reshuffle

Jim Zwiers, an 18-year veteran of the company who most recently served as president of the International Group, has been appointed President of the Wolverine Outdoor and Lifestyle Group. Zwiers has held numerous executive roles at Wolverine, with previous leadership responsibility over the Merrell, Chaco, and Hush Puppies brands. In his new position, he will also serve as President of Merrell until the ongoing search for this key role is concluded.

Richie Woodworth, recently named president of the Lifestyle Group, will now lead the Wolverine Boston Group as President. Woodworth has more than 30 years of experience in branded footwear and apparel and has continuously proven his ability to build brands and drive growth in some of the most competitive categories in the industry. Prior to his most recent appointment, he served nine years as president of Saucony within the Wolverine portfolio.

Ted Gedra, a 30-year veteran of Wolverine Worldwide, will continue to serve as President of the Wolverine Heritage Group. For the past nine years, he has delivered consistent results leading the Wolverine Heritage Group and, prior to this role, held several other significant leadership roles within the company.

Nick Ottenwess has been promoted to President of the International Group. He has over 25 years of experience with the company, serving in a variety of senior positions. Most recently, Ottenwess was senior vice president of Finance and Operations for the International Group, reporting directly to Zwiers.

In their new roles, Zwiers, Woodworth, Gedra and Ottenwess will all report directly to Krueger. The company also announced that Jim Gabel has resigned his position as president of the Performance Group and will be relocating back to Canada for personal reasons.