Australia’s 2XU, the performance sports and compression apparel brand, has appointed its first ever president for the United States, Scott Taylor.
Bringing over two decades unparalleled experience in the US sporting goods industry, Taylor is the ideal candidate to spearhead 2XU’s aggressive plans for growth in the coming years.
The hiring comes after 2XU became a a newly acquired investment proposition for LVMH equity fund L Capital Asia 2.
“From a US perspective, we aspire to accelerate the profitable growth of the business and brand to the extent that US annual revenue breaks through $50 million by 2017 en route to $400 million in the longer term,” said 2XU Chief Executive Officer Kevin Roberts. “In order to achieve our global growth aspirations, it’s imperative that we develop high quality teams in all key markets, and we are delighted to welcome Scott to lead our team in the US. Scott possesses strong leadership capabilities, a deep knowledge of athletic retailers and consumers in the US market and valuable experience in driving breakout growth at Nike and Under Armour over the last 23 years.”
After 15 years at Nike, eight years at Under Armour and living in eight states across the country, few people understand the geographies, channels, customers and consumers in the US sporting goods industry as well as Taylor. At Nike, he progressed through various sales roles, rising to National Apparel Sales Manager (Sporting Goods and Urban), and ultimately to the position of General Merchandise Manager for key accounts in the sporting goods and mall channels in the US. In eight years at Under Armour, Taylor’s roles included Director of Key Accounts, Director of Apparel Merchandising and Director of Global Brand Marketing for various categories a tenure arming him with an intimate understanding of what it takes to achieve breakout growth in the US.
“I’m excited to be joining 2XU,” said Taylor. “The potential of this brand is immense, and its early stronghold on core sports impressive. I look forward to extending the 2XU brand ethos of Human Performance Multiplied, to more consumers, markets and athlete communities in the United States than ever before. I believe 2XU is truly the next great global performance brand.”
Taylor’s appointment commenced at 2XU’s Spring Summer 2015 Global Sales Conference in Carlsbad, CA last week, where 120 of the brand’s representatives gathered from over 50 countries across the globe.
A former college athlete, Taylor, his wife Rachel and their son Logan will relocate from Baltimore, MD to 2XU USA’s home base in Carlsbad.
