Wolverine World Wide taps Chris Hufnagel to lead Merrell

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Sep 13, 2019

Apparel marketing and licensing company Wolverine World Wide, Inc. has named Chris Hufnagel as global brand president of outdoor footwear and apparel brand Merrell, the largest brand in the company's portfolio. 

A company veteran, Hufnagel has been with Wolverine for 10 years, most recently serving as global brand president of Cat Footwear. Previously, he has also held roles within the company as president of consumer direct, senior vice president and head of corporate strategy, and co-chief transformation officer for the ‘Wolverine Way Forward’ initiative. During his time with the company, Hufnagel was responsible for starting Wolverine’s consumer insights and market intelligence function. 

In his new role, he will continue to report to Todd Spaletto, president of the Wolverine Michigan Group. He replaces Sue Rechner. 

“[Hufnagel] took aggressive action to help the Cat Footwear team rapidly evolve its growth and go-to-market strategies,” said Spaletto. “His demonstrated collaboration and partnerships within Wolverine, coupled with deep apparel and lifestyle brand experience, make him an ideal fit to build on the strong foundation already in place at Merrell.”

Before joining Wolverine, Hufnagel served as vice president of retail at Under Armour, vice president of brand store experience with Gap and director of presentation with Abercrombie & Fitch. 

Hufnagel’s promotion follows the appointment of former Anthropologie CEO David W. McCreight to Wolverine’s board of directors this past May. 

For the first quarter ended March 30, 2019, the Michigan-based company saw a decrease in its first-quarter revenues and earnings, reporting net revenue of $523.4 million, down 2.0% from $534.1 million in the prior-year period.