Knights Apparel Inc. has named veteran apparel and home textiles industries executive Donnie Hodge as president and COO. Hodge was most recently COO of the Gerber Childrenswear division of Kellwood Co. In his new post, Hodge will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the producer of licensed sports apparel. His


direct reports will include the executives responsible for the company's finance, operations, sourcing, merchandising, sales and human resources functions. 


 


At Gerber, he helped orchestrate a re-engineering of the brand. His efforts over the past seven years drove the Greenville, S.C.-based Gerber to “Best-in-Class” metrics in the areas of sales growth, operating earnings growth, capital employed, inventory turns, SG&A and Burden costs, distribution, and price value positioning., who has over 35 years experience in operations, management, manufacturing, marketing and supply chain at apparel and home textiles manufacturers,  .  


 


Prior to that, Hodge spent 19 years at J.P. Stevens and successor company West Point Stevens, Clemson, S.C., where he rose to become Senior Vice President-Strategic Planning and a member of the company's Executive Strategy team. During that time, he helped turn the home textile division into the top performing group within the company, leading the effort to stabilize business processes and helping to direct the development of the Ralph Lauren Home Fashions line. Hodge began his career at Milliken and Co., Spartanburg, S.C., and held various management positions over a 10 year period there.


 


“We are excited about adding a key member to our executive management team with Donnie's apparel industry experience, skill set, leadership qualities and track record of success,” said CEO Joseph Bozich.  “This is an important step as we build on the company's already strong foundation to support our rapidly growing business. I look forward to working closely with Donnie to execute our strategies and continued growth plans.”