Puma said Jay Piccola, president and general manager of Puma North America since 2000, plans to retire effective mid-2017.
Piccola will remain a non-executive director to Puma North America’s board of directors, and in partnership with Bjoern Gulden is actively working on finding his replacement and will assist in the orderly transition of leadership and to provide ongoing advice and assistance to the board and leadership at Puma North America.
“Jay’s decision will bring to a close a remarkable career of nearly 20 years of continuous service to Puma,” Puma said in an e-mail.
Piccola joined Puma in 1997 as EVP of North America to lead the company’s sales and marketing initiatives. He was promoted to president in January 2000, and responsible for all business activities in North America (U.S. and Canada), including growth, P&L and brand positioning.
“He has managed the growth and recent resurgence of Puma in the marketplace as well as communication initiatives for the brand,” Puma said in its statement.
Prior to joining Puma, Piccola was executive vice president of sales at Pro Player, a sportswear company that specializes in officially-licensed sports apparel. At Pro Player, he repositioned the company’s brands, driving a 60-percent sales increase within a two-year period. Piccola gained his sports apparel experience in senior level positions with Converse, Diadora and Nike.
He was a three-time college All-American basketball player and professional basketball player.
