Bill Dodge has resigned as VP of global product design and development for the Merrell, Patagonia and Chaco brands at Wolverine World Wide Inc. to rebuild Italian boot maker Garmont International S.R.L.’s North American business. Dodge started in his new role as CEO of Garmont North America last week.
Reached by The B.O.S.S. Report Thursday, Dodge (shown to the right) said he will spend the next four to six weeks reviewing the complexities of the marketplace before hatching a sales and distribution strategy for the brand. He has yet to decide whether Garmont will exhibit at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market.
“By Christmas, I hope to have a plan,” said Dodge, whose new title is CEO for Garmont North America. “We will organize as quickly as possible and try to open distribution for late spring or early summer.”
Garmont’s presence dropped sharply in North America after it sold its ski boot manufacturing assets to Scott Sports in September, 2012 as part of a financial restructuring. Garmont emerged from the Italian equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in April, when it was acquired by Italian entrepreneur and investor Pierangelo Bressan.
Giuliano Zavan, a former Asolo and Tecnica executive recruited to revitalize Garmont, has already developed a line of hiking, approach, backpacking and mountaineering shoes for Spring 2015 priced to sell for between $139 and $499 at retail.
We have a strong opportunity to start fresh with a trusted premium brand Doge said. Garmont targets the enthusiast and it is important we develop an effective, mutually beneficial relationship with specialty retail. Because specialty retail faces a complex marketplace we will take a supportive approach that will focus on education and sell-through success. This is a unique opportunity to build an innovative bridge between great product and the consumer, with a clear and reliable distribution strategy.
The new assignment marks Dodge’s return to business development. He spent most of the 1980s selling skis for Salomon and was national sales manager for Dunham from 2000-2004.
“I see a strong opportunity to develop business that is very supportive of specialty distribution,” Dodge said of his latest assignment. “Garmont makes high-end footwear and I think there is an opportunity to partner with specialty retailers to help them battle some of the things happening in the marketplace.”
Dodge said he will also explore opportunities to expand sales of tactical footwear, where Garmont has had success in Europe. While Bressan also owns Prisma 2, which designs and develops performance outerwear for outdoor and other brands, Garmont will focus on the footwear category for now.
Dodge said he began looking for a new position this year after tiring of the lengthy and expensive commute between his home in New Hampshire and Wolverine’s headquarters in Michigan.
“I was a ‘super Commuter,” living in New Hampshire and working Michigan,” he said. “I was doing that the last six years and it was time I came to my senses to live and work in same place.”
WWW announced in mid-July that it would allow its license to manufacture and sell Patagonia footwear expire at the end of 2014 in a bid to free up cash for investing in omni-channel retailing.
Dodge is now scouting locations in Southern New Hampshire for Garmont North America’s headquarters.
“If you are going to have a footwear company, the best place is to have it is near Boston or Portland ,OR,” noted Dodge. “It’s also a good location from the communication and time zone standpoint as well as flights. Thirdly, I am close to the mountains. I can get to the mountains in less than hour.”
