Haselden To Lead Next Phase of Growth For The Iconic Outdoor Apparel And Equipment Maker
HELSINKI – February 2, 2021 – Amer Sports Corporation (“Amer Sports”) today announced the appointment of retail industry executive, and seasoned global operator Stuart Haselden to the newly-created role of Chief Executive Officer at Arc’teryx Equipment (“Arc’teryx” or “Company”), the global design company specializing in technical high-performance outerwear and equipment. The appointment is effective immediately. In this new role, Haselden will lead the global business strategy with a focus on building new vertical capabilities and accelerating regional expansion.
“As we enter this next phase of growth for Arc’teryx, we are excited to welcome Stuart to the Amer Sports team,” said James Zheng, Board Executive Director and CEO of Amer Sports. “Stuart’s rare mix of global brand business leadership and direct-to-consumer expertise will be invaluable as we accelerate Arc’teryx direct-to-consumer strategies and position the brand for long-term success. With Stuart’s leadership and deep experience in engineering profitable growth for disruptive vertical brands, I am confident that Arc’teryx can reach the next level and we look forward to his immediate contributions.”
Haselden brings more than two decades of retail and vertical direct-to-consumer expertise to Arc’teryx with a proven record of innovative brand-building at premiere global leaders, including lululemon, J.Crew, and Saks. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer for global lifestyle brand Away.
Haselden said, “Arc’teryx is an inspiring brand that represents the pinnacle of design innovation. I’m thrilled to join this talented team to extend their track record of success and build new capabilities to take the business forward.”
Haselden succeeds Jon Hoerauf, Arc’teryx President, who has decided to leave the Company to pursue other plans. “Jon leaves after a distinguished career here, and he leaves a strong legacy at Arc’teryx, having grown sales consistently, and having built a strong organization over his five-year tenure as brand leader,” said Zheng. “We want to thank him for his important contributions in building Arc’teryx that have included the expansion of key product lines, important new store innovation, and enabling our international expansion.”
Haselden’s career spans more than 20 years of executive leadership at global apparel retailers. Prior to Away, he served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for lululemon athletica, inc. from 2015 to 2020, helping restore the brand’s profitability and leading its international business.
Previously, Haselden held roles including Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Senior Vice President of Finance for J. Crew Group, Inc. from 2006 to 2014. Prior to J.Crew, Haselden spent six years at Saks Incorporated where he served in a number of roles, including VP Strategic Planning. Haselden’s leadership experience also includes four years of active duty service as an armored cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Harbert School of Business at Auburn University.
Step 1: Fire everybody responsible for the spring 2021 look book. It looks like a bunch of Instagram models who are lost in the wilderness.
Hey, sitting in the seat of taking a profitable just turned public company back into PE shop hands and ruining it in the course of 8 years must teach valuable lessons. My question is: when Anta Sports (PRC’s market leader) bought Amer, did MR Zheng have to move from Shanghai to Helsinki for the media quotes? Or does he still live in Shanghai?
Amer Sports as a company is still located and registered in Helsinki, Finland regardless of the CEOs current whereabouts…
Great! You wouldnt believe how unbearable the previous CEO was. You definitly didnt wanted to sit with him at one table.
Well, it looks like the end of an era is coming faster than we had thought. For most of us over the age of 40 we started to enjoy the outdoors in wool outerwear and silk baselayers, until the advent of “polypro”, scratchy stinky synthetics that we were convinced outperformed Mother Natures finest materials. Consumers are so much better informed now, and anyone with a calculator can determine what the sticker price on a garment breaks down to, how much goes back into making a company strong and how much goes to the always hungry shareholders. This is the critical part. These new hires are always tasked with “driving growth” while they should be focused on investing in and reinforcing a brands foundation (the workers). I think we will see these big brands which are now essentially part of the “fast fashion’ category start to lose market share as labour costs go up and the true hardcore users will seek out small custom (nimble) shops to make them mission-specific gear, for probably not much more than what they would pay for something from one of these many mall-brands.