Arena International announced that Bill Bettencourt, President of Arena North America since 1999, will depart and is replaced by Craig Bauman, who was named as the new General Manager. Craig comes to Arena after serving as Director of Intersport North America for the Forzani Group out of Montreal, Canada and has also worked for Salomon North America and Raichle of Switzerland.
“We thank Mr. Bettencourt for his contributions to date” said Craig Bauman. “Arena is back and growing at the retail level in the North American market creating momentum that allows a very smooth management transition.”
Patrick Chollet, managing director of Arena International, was quoted as saying “Mr. Bettencourt has decided to move on professionally and relocate back to his home state of California. We are very pleased to have Craig Bauman take over the leadership of the company. Craig is an American with extensive international business skills that will contribute to insure a seamless transition as we increase our focus in growing market share and retailer profitability in North America.”
