Kizik and its parent company, HandsFree Labs, appointed Gareth Hosford, a former executive at Nike and Converse, as CEO. Most recently, he led the launch and scaling of Omorpho, a Portland, OR-based performance wear and fitness equipment start-up, as both CFO and COO.
Category: Footwear

StockX Hires New Head of Creative
Daniel De Jesus Krueger, joins the company from Fulwell Entertainment, formerly The Springhill Company, which LeBron James and Maverick Carter founded. Krueger also led The Nike Brand Studio at Uninterrupted, a media company founded in 2014 by James and Carter.

Topgolf Callaway Completes Sale of Jack Wolfskin to Anta Sports
Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. completed the sale of Jack Wolfskin to Anta Sports, the largest shareholder of Arc’teryx, Wilson and Salomon parent Amer Sports, for $290 million. Callaway acquired Jack Wolfskin in 2019 for $476 million.

Birkenstock Introduces Self-Care Footwear Line at LA Pop-Up Shop
Running through June 26, the pop-up features a curated range of 100 percent natural, vegan Cosmos Natural Certified foot and body care products manufactured in Germany, except for the Pumice Stone, which the company makes in the EU. The range will launch to a wider audience in August.

Shoe Carnival’s Sales Slide in Q1, Accelerates Shoe Station Expansion
Shoe Carnival, Inc.’s earnings fell in the first quarter as sales slid 7.5 percent. However, the family shoe chain said its rebanner strategy is seeing strong success and Shoe Station is now expected to represent over 80 percent of its store fleet by March 2027, up from a previous target of 51 percent.

Kohl’s Trims Q1 Loss, Same-Store Sales Slide 3.9 Percent
Kohl’s Corp. narrowed its loss in the first quarter ended May 3 as sales declined 4.1 percent. The retailer maintained its guidance for the year.

Yue Yuen Appoints Board Member
Yue Yuen appointed Chou Wei-Te, executive assistant vice president at its retail arm, Pou Chen, to its board as an executive director. He replaces Chan Lu Min, who is retiring.

VF Appoints New Chief Accounting Officer
Michael Phillips succeeds Bryan McNeill, who is retiring after 30 years with the company. Phillips has served as the VP Enterprise Financial Reporting controller of the company since September 2022.

Nike’s Design and Innovation Chief John Hoke to Retire in the Fall
John Hoke, Nike’s chief innovation officer, is retiring after serving in the role since 2023. He first worked at Nike on stores and fixtures before getting into footwear. An architect by training, he is credited with designing a NikeTown store and buildings on the Nike campus.

Costco Wholesale Misses on Q3 Top-Line as Discretionary Spending Weakens
The miss on the comparable sales line was said to be due to consumers paring back on large purchases, especially of non-essential goods such as home furnishings, as discretionary spending continues to weaken.

Report: Cross-Border E-Commerce Shipping Hits a Regulatory Wall
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of product categories now fall into tariff-sensitive classifications, with customs authorities worldwide significantly ramping up enforcement.

Arc’teryx Parent Amer Sports Prices Secondary Offering
Amer Sports, Inc. has priced a previously announced secondary offering of 35,000,000 ordinary shares by entities affiliated with FountainVest Partners at a price to the public of $37.20 per share.

EXEC: Golden Goose Posts DD First Quarter Growth on DTC Expansion
The Milan-based premium fashion sneaker said Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) net revenue was up 19 percent year-over-year (y/y), accounting for 76 percent of net revenues.

Foot Locker Starts to Move On, Cancels Q1 Analyst Call
Total comparable sales decreased 2.6 percent year-over-year with comparable sales in the North American region decreasing by 0.5 percent and Europe comps falling 10.2 percent in the first quarter.

Sqairz Expands North; to Open Canadian Warehouse June 2
The warehouse will speed delivery times to Canadian athletes, eliminating long delivery windows, unpredictable duties and high cross-border costs.