Wolverine World Wide, Inc., which operates one of the world’s largest portfolios of footwear and lifestyle brands, announced the appointment of Brendan Hoffman as its next president and his appointment as a member of its Board of Directors, both effective on his expected start date of September 8, 2020. Hoffman will report to Blake W. Krueger, Wolverine Worldwide’s current Chairman, CEO and President. He is expected to transition duringa period of time to become the future CEO of the Company.
Hoffman brings 30 years of merchandising, digital marketing and omni-channel consumer direct experience from a variety of well-known brands and retailers. Most recently, he was CEO of Vince Holding Corp., a publicly traded global contemporary fashion brand. While at Vince, Hoffman significantly increased the growth and penetration of the eCommerce and digital platforms, adapted Vince’s vertical supply chain to embrace “buy now/wear now” trends and extended the brand into bold new consumer categories.
Prior to joining Vince in 2015, Hoffman was CEO and president of Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. and president and CEO of Lord & Taylor LLC. Earlier in his career, he was CEO and president of Neiman Marcus Direct, helping to grow Neimanmarcus.com and launching Bergdorfgoodman.com, Horchow.com and other branded websites that transformed Neiman Marcus and its affiliated companies into one of the first multi-channel retailers with a $500M eCommerce business.
“Brendan is a very strong addition to the Wolverine Worldwide senior management team and his proven leadership and track record makes him the ideal person to become our next president and eventually lead Wolverine Worldwide into the next chapter of its journey,” said Krueger, who has served as Wolverine’s CEO and president since 2007.
The announcement today is the result of a multi-year succession and search process. “I believe we currently have the strongest and deepest leadership team in the industry, and Brendan brings a valuable set of skills and experiences that will help our brands capitalize on the many opportunities that lie ahead,” continued Krueger. “He brings a passion and strategic vision for consumer direct and omni-channel retail that is well-suited for the digital pivot and accelerated changes in consumer behavior that are now taking place in the global marketplace.”
In his role as president, Hoffman will focus on driving growth across the vompany’s portfolio of lifestyle brands. The key leaders responsible for Wolverine Worldwide’s brands, digital execution, advanced concepts and innovation, consumer insights and merchandising will report to Hoffman, including Jim Zwiers, Chris Hufnagel, Joelle Grunberg, Tom Kennedy and Angelo Ng.
