Fleet Feet Sports announced the hiring of Brent Hollowell, a seasoned retail and marketing executive, to the role of vice president of marketing and vendor management.
With over 25 years of experience, Hollowell has established a proven career track record of helping to build powerful retail and consumer brands. His Hollowell’s background includes retail and marketing leadership positions at Foot Locker, Adidas America and Nathan.
“After an exhaustive search, Brent rose to the top of our list and helped us reimagine the scope of what this role could entail,” said Joey Pointer, chief financial officer of Fleet Feet Sports. “Brent’s passion, expertise, and sheer drive complements an already strong team here, and I have no doubt that we are now better positioned to deliver on our strategic objectives and vision for the future.”
Hollowell will lead all efforts for both the marketing and vendor management departments from the brand’s headquarters in Carrboro, with department heads reporting directly into him. Hollowell inherits the reins to the brand’s vendor partner program, which originated in 2003 with New Balance and now includes 17 brands, as well as the direction and strategy for the brand’s national marketing efforts. He officially begins June 12.
“There is no retailer in the country better poised to emerge from these interesting times in a stronger position than Fleet Feet Sports,” said Hollowell. “Fleet Feet Sports’ past and present offer the brightest examples of what this industry has to offer to people, and that is passion poured in to life-changing products and experiences. There will always be a demand for that, and I look forward to working with the incredible team at Fleet Feet Sports to continue building upon the many amazing initiatives this brand and these owners have already achieved.”
As head of marketing for Nathan since 2012, Hollowell drove development and execution of programs repositioning “accessories” into “essentials,” created new standards for what those areas can mean to store growth and profitability, and directed over 85 percent of the brand’s marketing budgets into efforts and campaigns supporting the running specialty channel.
He has worked with running store owners both through his role on the board of the Running Industry Association and through Nathan’s retail advisory board to develop and pilot strategies and best practices that enabled Nathan’s rapid category expansion and market share growth.
Hollowell previously served as director of marketing and retail marketing at Adidas America and was instrumental in the execution of strategies and programs that helped drive the rapid growth experienced from 1995-2001. During his tenure, he also assumed responsibility for the retail division, including 35 outlet and three inline stores, as well as adidas.com.
Hollowell started his career on the retail floor at Foot Locker in Dallas, Texas, in 1986, and went through the brand’s management-training program to become a store manager in 1987. From 1990-1995, working as vice president of marketing out of the brand’s New York City headquarters, Hollowell led the positioning efforts of the Foot Locker brand while creating marketing and vendor relationship program. He eventually earned a promotion to vice president of global marketing.
A life-long runner who has crossed the finish lines at both the Marine Corps and New York City marathons, Hollowell completed his first 50K this year in March. Hollowell earned his Bachelor of Science degree in advertising from the University of Texas. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two children – a son, Garrett (17), and a daughter, Tyler (16).
Photo courtesy Fleet Feet Sports
