In a bit of a saga that played out during the past three weeks, we now know that former Arc’teryx President Vincent Wauters left his post for a new job at Hunter Boots.
By David Clucas
On Feb. 9, the iconic rubber boots specialty brand introduced Wauters as its new CEO, effective March 1.
The move helped shine some light on the abrupt announcement, January 19, that Wauters was leaving Arc’teryx and its parent firm Amer Sports after 19 years with the company, four as the president of the high-end, Canadian outdoor apparel and gear brand.
Former Arc’teryx President and soon-to-be Hunter Boots CEO Vicent Wauters.
Amer seemed to be caught of guard and quickly named Amer CEO Heikki Takala as the lead for Arc’teryx and the firm’s larger apparel division, which also includes Salomon, Atomic and Wilson. The public company may have felt that it needed to get word out to investors right away. A week later, on January 26, it clarified its announcement, saying that it was promoting Arc’teryx Global Commercial Sales Director Jon Hoerauf to the position of president and general manager of Arc’teryx. He will report directly to Takala, who will continue to assume Wauter’s duties overseeing Amer Sports overall apparel business.
Growing apparel and footwear sales across its brand portfolio, which includes Salomon, Wilson and Atomic, is a key pillar of Amer Sports’ strategic growth plan, officials said. In currency-neutral terms, sales of outdoor apparel and footwear accounted for 34.3 and 27.1 percent respectively of Amer Sports sales growth in the third quarter of 2015.
Hoerauf spent the last four years driving “high double-digit growth” with existing commercial partners, officials said. Prior to joining Arc’teryx in 2012, he spent 13 years at The North Face, in various leadership roles including sales, marketing and product.
New Arc’teryx President and General Manager Jon Hoerauf.
The final question remained where Wauters would end up, and we got the answer Feb. 9.
At Hunter, Wauters will “drive the brand forward” during its next stage of development, officials said. He replaces James Seuss, who left the brand in November 2015.
“I am honored to join such an iconic brand,” Wauters said. “The combination of heritage, performance and fashion is what makes Hunter so unique. What has been accomplished in the last few years is remarkable and I look forward to building on this, realizing Hunter’s global potential and setting the path towards an ambitious and inspiring brand future.”
Lead photo courtesy Hunter Boots
