Asics America Corp. announced a number of changes to its sales team. Two new senior national sales directors have been named. Mike Mitchell will handle the West and Southwest territories, including specialty retailers nationwide, and Tracy Paoletti will serve as his counterpart for the East and Midwest regions.
The hires follow the resignation of Jim Hoff, long-time head of sales at Asics America, on April 1.
Mitchell and Paoletti were both previously employed at American Sporting Goods (ASG), Mitchell as western regional sales manager and Paoletti as a regional sales manager. Paoletti re-joined Asics in January 2011 and Mitchell will start in May 2011. Both have more than 20 years experience in the footwear business and will report to Asics America President and CEO Kevin Wulff.
“Mitchell and Paoletti will take the reins of these two large territories overseeing an already strong sales force with incredible depth and momentum,” says Wulff. “They each bring tremendous senior level national sales experience and a complete understanding of premium performance products. We look forward to the leadership of these two highly talented individuals as Asics America continues down the road of growth and prosperity in our business.”
As reported, Wulff, formerly president of Asics America, became CEO, effective April 1, following the resignation of Nobuo Oda. Wulff became the first CEO for Asics America who is non-Japanese. Asics said the brand has sen double-digit growth each year for the past seven years, and recently announced a goal of reaching a billion dollars in sales by 2015.
Along with these two additions, comes a complete reorganization within the sales team. John Kraus, who has been with Asics since 2004, will add director of sales operations to his west sales manager title. Kraus’s extensive sporting goods business experience dates back to the early 1980’s. Asics said he has helped grow and sustain many performance brands over the past 30 years and has been an integral part of growing the Asics business on the west coast for the last seven years.
Veteran Asics employee Terry Schalow will transition to the director of specialty sales position, overseeing specialty running, military and team Sales. Schalow has been with Asics for 24 years, serving most recently as the product marketing manager for performance running and track and field categories. Prior to that, he was the gold accounts manager. Asics said he has a vast understanding of footwear on both the sales and product development fronts and his experience will be ideally suited to help drive sales in the specialty business.
“This new role will take full advantage of my skill set, blending my background in specialty retail management with my technical background as a product marketing manager for performance running,” said Schalow. “Im excited about managing the direction of our more specialized sales groups with a more concentrated focus and helping to elevate the growth of the business.”
Damian McCusker has been promoted to strategic business and sales manager for Gold Accounts. McCusker, who has been with Asics since 2006, will continue to manage the Asics business within specialty running; developing long term strategic plans to grow the core business of running.
Apparel Product Manager Patty Kelly, who joined Asics in 2007, will transition from the product side into a new position as apparel sales manager. Her broad design and management experience within the performance apparel category will benefit and help grow the apparel business.
