Timberland President Patrik Frisk is leaving VF Corp. to take a position as CEO of the Canadian fashion footwear retailer Aldo Group, according to wire reports.
Frisk will start in the job Nov. 1 after moving to Aldo Group’s headquarters in Montreal, according to an e-mail he sent to Bloomberg news confirming the news, which first appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
Frisk, 51, has served as president of Timberland since September, 2011, when VFC promoted him to the position following its $2.3 billion acquisition of The Timberland Company, which also owned the Smart Wool brand. Frisk has served as coalition president, Outdoor Americas since April.
Frisk will replaced Réjean Dionne, who is retiring after a 27-year career with the company, including his last three as CEO. Based in Montreal, The Aldo Group operates more than 1,750 stores around the globe, including the United States, where it operates under the Aldo and Call it Spring banners. Like Timberland, Aldo Group has long tied its brand closely to larger social causes, including preventing AIDs, supporting children victimized by war and fighting breast cancer. The company is named for its founder Aldo Bensadoun, who started the company in 1972.
Frisk’s departure comes just a week after VFC CEO Eric Wiseman called out Timberland for exemplifying the power of VFC’s ability to grow acquired brands through its global platform. During Frisk’s tenure, Timberland has improved the four-wall profitability of its retail stores from 16 percent to the mid-20s, cut supply chain costs and puts itself on pace to grow operating margin from 13 to 19 percent by 2020. Timberland sales grew 15 percent in the third quarter, or faster than either The North Face or Vans, causing VFC to raise its full year 2014 revenue guidance for the brand from 12 percent to 13 percent last week.
Frisk joined VFC in 2004 as country manager, Scandinavia for The North Face. He went on to take responsibility for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region for the brand, before being promoted in mid-2009 to president – Outdoor & Action Sports EMEA, which put him over JanSport, The North Face, Reef and Vans in the region.
