VF Corp. has tapped an industry veteran to lead the Dickies brand, which VF acquired in 2017 for $820 million.
Denny Bruce, most recently EVP of Sales, Product and Marketing at Traeger Grills, will be responsible for all global operations and the global performance of the Dickies brand, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
At Traeger, Denny worked with former Skullcandy CEO Jeremy Andrus to quadruple earnings and revenue over four years.
Denny and Jeremy also worked together at Skullcandy, where Denny was EVP of Domestic Sales. Denny also worked at Vans and Burton during his career.
Jeremy and Traeger gave Denny an emotional sendoff last week, with employees lining the hallways and stairwell of the company, applauding him as he exited.
“This guy is the perfect partner – he’s smart, hard working, scrappy, brilliant, loyal and kind,” Jeremy wrote on Instagram. “I logged thousands of late night texts and calls to him over the years with an idea or problem to chew on, and he always came in the next morning with a thoughtful solution. He brought the energy every single day – he even stayed late on his last night grinding on a final project.”
In his new role, Denny will report to Curt Holtz, EVP and Group President of the Workwear Division. Phillip Williamson, the former CEO of the Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co., will move to a brand ambassador role.
Dickies, VF’s fourth largest brand by revenue, has been performing well for VF. Dickies is forecast to grow 5% to 7% in constant currency in Fiscal 2020.
By Fiscal 2021, Dickies is expected to generate $1 billion in revenue, according to VF.
