Dive Brief:
- Under Armour on Wednesday said Stephanie Pugliese, the brand’s president of the Americas, is leaving the company after three years in the role.
- David Baxter will take over effective Oct. 24, but Pugliese will stay until early 2023 to help with the transition, according to a company press release. Baxter is the senior vice president of Americas Wholesale at Under Armour, and prior to that served as CEO of Lids Sports Group for three years.
- In the same announcement, Under Armour said Chief Legal Officer John Stanton is retiring at the end of the year and will be replaced by Mehri Shadman, also effective Oct. 24. Shadman is a nine-year Under Armour veteran currently serving as deputy general counsel, corporate and risk, and assistant corporate secretary.
Dive Insight:
A few months after Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk stepped down, the athletics brand is shaking up more of its leadership team.
No reason was given for Pugliese’s departure as president of the Americas, but interim CEO Colin Browne thanked the executive for her “leadership of our largest region during a highly uncertain retail environment.” An SEC filing from Under Armour noted the company has entered into a separation agreement with Pugliese and will offer her severance benefits, cover her insurance benefits for 18 months, and pay out a lump sum of one and a half times her annual base salary.
The company’s new appointees, Shadman and Baxter, are both company veterans, just like Browne, who took over the interim CEO post from his role as chief operating officer. Shadman has spent almost a decade with the company and already oversees global ethics and compliance, data privacy and enterprise risk management. Baxter has been with the athletics retailer since 2020, but also brings experience from fellow athletics brands Reebok and Adidas.
"We're very excited to recognize the talent that David and Mehri bring to our business," Browne said in a statement. "With deep market knowledge and outstanding expertise — we look forward to their proven leadership qualities helping to architect our next growth chapter."
Under Armour is in a state of change after Frisk’s departure at the beginning of June, which came as a shock to many analysts that saw him as “hand-picked” for the position by founder Kevin Plank. His departure came about two years into his tenure as CEO.
“I think what the recent change signals is a change in philosophy as to the way the company should be run between Patrik and Kevin. And, put more simply, the level of growth that the company should be achieving,” Tom Nikic, senior analyst of apparel and footwear at Wedbush, told Retail Dive this summer about the departure.
