Wolverine World Wide will put additional marketing and product development support in place for both Patagonia Footwear and Chaco. 


Entering its fourth year at market and with a growing sales force, Patagonia Footwear will strategically restructure its internal team with Jamie Barbor being appointed to director of Patagonia Footwear and will oversee all facets of the Patagonia Footwear business. His commitment to this project, since day one, has built him strong relationships to enable him to leverage the right resources to move Patagonia forward with their footwear initiatives.

 

Sue Harvey-Brown, former marketing manager at Merrell, will bring her strong knowledge of and passion for the environment and marketing background to lead the brand management for Patagonia Footwear. Harvey-Brown will also have full responsibility for the coordination of all environmental initiatives of the Outdoor Group.

Whitney Conner, former brand manager for Patagonia Footwear, will move to a new position where she will lead marketing and brand management efforts for Chaco. Conner brings seven years of experience in the outdoor industry and three years of experience leading the brand growth of Patagonia Footwear. 


Brandan Hill, creative director at Chaco since 2002, will remain on the team and move to Grand Rapids to work directly with Conner to oversee product development efforts. 

Bill Dodge, former general manager of Patagonia Footwear, is now the vice president of product development for the Outdoor Group, and will ensure that all of the Group’s brands (Patagonia Footwear, Chaco and Merrell) have clear product development goals.


“As our overall business enjoys increased momentum, we will continue to ensure a strong team is in place to effectively manage the needs of each brand within the Outdoor Group,” said Craig Throne, vice president of global marketing for the Outdoor Group.  “The aim is to effectively blend our team members’ strong backgrounds and experience and put the right people in the right places to clearly represent the ethos of each Outdoor Group brand.”