Under Armour Footwear Chief Peter Ruppe to Depart
21 November 2017 - 8:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Germano
The head of Under Armour Inc.'s footwear business is leaving,
the latest in a series of senior executive departures as the
sportswear company struggles with slowing sales of its apparel and
sneakers.
Peter Ruppe, the senior vice president of footwear for Under
Armour for the past two years, is leaving the company, a
spokeswoman confirmed. He will be succeeded by Ryan Drew, who
previously served as general manager of Under Armour's basketball
division.
Mr. Ruppe, who spent two decades at Nike Inc. before joining
Under Armour, declined to comment.
Under Armour originated as a sports apparel brand and has been
building up its shoe division to better compete with traditional
sport footwear rivals Nike and Adidas AG. The Baltimore-based
company unveiled its first signature basketball shoe for NBA star
Stephen Curry in 2015, but recent editions of the sneaker have
faced underwhelming reviews and backlash. The recent release of the
Curry 4 has been marred by shipping delays.
Under Armour's quarterly footwear sales have slowed this year,
and still account for less than a quarter of the company's total
business. Shoe sales increased just 2% in the most recent quarter
to $285 million, compared with quarterly growth of 42% for the same
period a year ago.
The departure of Mr. Ruppe follows other high-profile exits in
recent weeks. Under Armour's co-founder, chief marketing officer
and the heads of its women's, youth and sport fashion divisions
have all left since October.
The company this year has posted its first ever losses and sales
declines as a public company and initiated restructuring and
layoffs in August. CEO and chairman Kevin Plank hired Patrik Frisk,
the former CEO of Aldo Group Inc. as president and chief operating
officer in June.
Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2017 15:08 ET (20:08 GMT)
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