Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc., the parent of Royal Robbins, appointed Cathy Taylor, a consultant who formally ran Cole Hahn, as its CEO, effective April 23. James Riedman, who serves as Phoenix's chairman of the Board of Directors and since May 2006, as Phoenix's interim CEO will continue in his role as chairman.
Phoenix Footwear said Taylor has over 25 years of executive and over the past several months worked closely with the company to restructure and reposition Tommy Bahama footwear and accessories.
Taylor spent 20 years with Cole Haan and Nike, Inc., following their acquisition of Cole Haan. She held a series of positions including Vice President of Retail, Executive Vice President, and President & Chief Executive Officer of Cole Haan (a division of Nike, Inc.). Phoenix Footwear said her many accomplishments in these roles included developing and implementing global branding, marketing, sourcing and sales strategies as well as improving operational and financial performance. Under Taylor's leadership as
CEO, Cole Haan's sales more than doubled. At the same time, she created and executed the Niketown brand image and business plan and helped to establish its global retail operations for the parent company, Nike, Inc.
Taylor also served in a number of other roles including President and CEO of Wenger North America (“Maker of the Genuine Swiss Army Knife”), and CEO of Vivre, Inc. (a luxury catalog and internet retailer).
Phoenix said Taylor's myriad of experiences and competencies will be well utilized as she joins Phoenix in the midst of it plans to reposition some of its product offerings and brands, enhance and further integrate its operational and customer service capabilities, and improve its financial
performance.
“We are very pleased to have Cathy lead our executive management team and operations,” said Riedman. “During the past several months Cathy worked closely with us to restructure and reposition Tommy Bahama footwear and accessories and at the same time familiarized
herself with our organization and the challenges we face. We believe Cathy's wealth of knowledge and expertise in the footwear industry, her significant product and branding capabilities, and her strong and proven leadership skills uniquely position her to help us to execute our growth
strategy and strengthen our market position. I look forward to working with her to take Phoenix Footwear to the next stage of success.”
“Phoenix has some very interesting business dynamics and challenges and I am excited to take on this leadership role at Phoenix to continue to strengthen and grow the portfolio of brands represented by the company,” said Taylor. “Working with the talented team at Phoenix, I believe we can achieve this success by expanding the ompany's market
presence and leveraging its core strengths. While consulting with the company, I had the opportunity to observe Phoenix's operations first hand and I am optimistic about the Company's potential and thrilled to be joining as CEO.”
Phoenix's brands include Royal Robbins(R) apparel, the Tommy Bahama Footwear(R), Trotters(R), SoftWalk(R), Strol(R), H.S. Trask(R), and Altama(R) footwear lines, and Chambers Belts(R).
