Company veteran brings decades of
omnichannel brand-building experience to drive strategic
transformation
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) today announced that its
Board of Directors has appointed Christopher E. Hufnagel, President
of Wolverine, as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member
of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Hufnagel
succeeds Brendan L. Hoffman, who is no longer with the Company.
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Christopher E. Hufnagel, President &
CEO of Wolverine Worldwide (Photo: Business Wire)
Mr. Hufnagel joined Wolverine Worldwide in 2008 and has served
in leadership roles across the organization. Before his appointment
as President in May 2023, he was President of the Company’s Active
Group with responsibility for Merrell, Saucony, Chaco, the Kids
Group, and Global Licensing. He has also served as Wolverine
Worldwide’s Global Brand President of Merrell and Global Brand
President of CAT Footwear. In earlier roles at the Company, he was
President of Direct-to-Consumer and Senior Vice President of
Strategy. Prior to joining Wolverine Worldwide, Mr. Hufnagel held
senior leadership roles at Under Armour, Gap, and Abercrombie &
Fitch.
Tom Long, Chairman of the Wolverine Worldwide Board of Directors
said, “The Board has confidence in Wolverine’s potential and
capacity to deliver strong shareholder value on a sustained basis.
This, of course, depends heavily on our continued ability to
develop great products and build compelling brands. Chris has a
demonstrated track record of successfully building global brands,
and he has a deep understanding of the Company, our people, and our
priorities. We are confident in the Company’s overarching strategy,
and in Chris and the team’s ability to execute it with
substantially enhanced urgency and boldness.”
Mr. Long continued, “We are grateful to Brendan for his
leadership over the past three years. He has played a key role in
setting us on the path to simplify the business and prioritize our
most important growth initiatives. We wish him the best in his next
chapter.”
“I am honored to step in as CEO at this critical moment for the
Company. Wolverine Worldwide maintains some of the world’s most
recognizable and loved lifestyle and footwear brands, and
transforming our business to bring the full power of these brands
to life will be a key driver of our success,” said Mr. Hufnagel. “I
have had the privilege of working with many teams across this
organization over the past 15 years, and we have what it takes to
build a stronger, more resilient company. I look forward to working
with the entire team to continue to improve profitability, generate
growth, and create shareholder value.”
ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE
Founded in 1883 on the belief in the possibility of opportunity,
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) is one of the world’s leading
marketers and licensors of branded casual, active lifestyle, work,
outdoor sport, athletic, children's and uniform footwear and
apparel. Through a diverse portfolio of highly recognized brands,
our products are designed to empower, engage and inspire our
consumers every step of the way. The Company’s portfolio includes
Merrell®, Saucony®, Sperry®, Sweaty Betty®, Hush Puppies®,
Wolverine®, Chaco®, Bates®, HYTEST®, and Stride Rite®. Wolverine
Worldwide is also the global footwear licensee of the popular
brands Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. Based in Rockford, Michigan, for
140 years, the Company's products are carried by leading retailers
in the U.S. and globally in approximately 170 countries and
territories. For additional information, please visit our website,
www.wolverineworldwide.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including statements regarding the Company’s expectations with
respect to: the Company's growth; profitability; potential and
capability to deliver strong shareholder value; and execution of
the Company’s strategy. In addition, words such as “estimates,”
“anticipates,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “step,” “plans,”
“predicts,” “focused,” “projects,” “outlook,” “is likely,”
“expects,” “intends,” “should,” “will,” “confident,” variations of
such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of
future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and
assumptions (“Risk Factors”) that are difficult to predict with
regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of occurrence.
Risk Factors include, among others: the risk that the Company will
be able to successfully implement its growth and profit improvement
strategies; changes in general economic conditions, employment
rates, business conditions, interest rates, tax policies,
inflationary pressures and other factors affecting consumer
spending in the markets and regions in which the Company’s products
are sold; the inability for any reason to effectively compete in
global footwear, apparel and consumer-direct markets; the inability
to maintain positive brand images and anticipate, understand and
respond to changing footwear and apparel trends and consumer
preferences; the inability to effectively manage inventory levels;
increases or changes in duties, tariffs, quotas or applicable
assessments in countries of import and export; foreign currency
exchange rate fluctuations; currency restrictions; supply chain or
other capacity constraints, production disruptions, quality issues,
price increases or other risks associated with foreign sourcing;
the cost and availability of raw materials, inventories, services
and labor for contract manufacturers; the effects of the COVID-19
pandemic and other health crises and containment efforts on the
Company’s business, operations, financial results and liquidity,
including the duration and magnitude of such effects; labor
disruptions; changes in relationships with, including the loss of,
significant wholesale customers; risks related to the significant
investment in, and performance of, the Company’s consumer-direct
operations; risks related to expansion into new markets and
complementary product categories; the impact of seasonality and
unpredictable weather conditions; effects of changes in general
economic conditions and/or the credit markets on the Company’s
distributors, suppliers and retailers; increases in the Company’s
effective tax rates; failure of licensees or distributors to meet
planned annual sales goals or to make timely payments to the
Company; the risks of doing business in developing countries, and
politically or economically volatile areas; the ability to secure
and protect owned intellectual property or use licensed
intellectual property; the impact of regulation, regulatory and
legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including compliance
with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the
protection of the environment, environmental remediation and other
related costs, and litigation or other legal proceedings relating
to the protection of the environment or environmental effects on
human health; the potential breach of the Company’s databases or
other systems, or those of its vendors, which contain certain
personal information, payment card data or proprietary information,
due to cyberattack or other similar events; problems affecting the
Company’s supply chain or distribution system, including service
interruptions at shipping and receiving ports; strategic actions,
including new initiatives and ventures, acquisitions and
dispositions, and the Company’s success in integrating acquired
businesses, and implementing new initiatives and ventures; the risk
of impairment to goodwill and other intangibles; changes in future
pension funding requirements and pension expenses; and additional
factors discussed in the Company’s reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and exhibits thereto. The
foregoing Risk Factors, as well as other existing Risk Factors and
new Risk Factors that emerge from time to time, may cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statements. Given these or other risks and
uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.
Furthermore, the Company undertakes no obligation to update, amend,
or clarify forward-looking statements.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230810352737/en/
Dave Latchana, (616) 863-4226
Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW)
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