(This story was updated on 8/10/2023.)
Wolverine Worldwide announced three new leadership appointments to help drive its future growth and build its brands globally.
Chris Hufnagel has been named president of Wolverine Worldwide and will be responsible for leading strategy across the company’s portfolio of footwear brands. He’ll also lead the company’s consumer marketing and insights teams.
The company’s footwear portfolio includes Merrell, Saucony, Sperry, Sweaty Betty, and Chaco.
Hufnagel has been with Wolverine for 14 years, including serving as global brand president of CAT Footwear, global brand president of Merrell, and most recently as president of Wolverine’s Active Group, responsible for Merrell, Saucony, Chaco, Kids Group and Global Licensing, among other roles.
Prior to working at Wolverine, Hufnagel had leadership roles at Under Armour and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Hufnagel will report to Brendan Hoffman, Wolverine’s CEO.
“Our strategy for long-term growth includes building stronger brands that resonate more meaningfully with our consumers around the globe,” Hoffman said. “Chris’ diverse and broad experience as the leader of our largest global brands make him the best choice to lead the implementation of this strategy across our entire footwear brand portfolio as president and take a broader leadership role at the company.”
New Presidents for Merrell, Saucony
Wolverine also announced two key brand leadership appointments. It promoted Janice Tennant to global brand president of Merrell and promoted Rob Griffiths to global brand president of Saucony.
Tennant has been chief marketing officer of Merrell since 2020, after starting at Wolverine as CMO of CAT Footwear in 2018. Before joining Wolverine, Tennant worked in a number of senior marketing and other roles with Kimberly-Clark and PepsiCo. She will report to Hufnagel.
Griffiths has been Wolverine’s managing director of EMEA since 2021, handling the company’s commercial operations in the region. Prior to that, he served as vice president and general manager of Merrell in EMEA and vice president and general manager of lifestyle brands in EMEA. Before joining Wolverine, Griffiths spent 15 years with global brands Esprit and Umbro. He’ll report to Hufnagel.
“Merrell and Saucony are two of the brands we believe have the largest global growth potential within the portfolio, and we intend to focus our efforts and investments on these key brands,” Hoffman said.
Merrell and Saucony were the stars for parent company Wolverine Worldwide in the first quarter ended April 1.
