ROCKFORD, Mich., June 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolverine
Worldwide (NYSE: WWW) today announced the appointment of
Michael D. Stornant to the position
of Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer,
effective June 12, 2015. He will
succeed Donald T. Grimes, who has
resigned his position to become Executive Vice President, Chief
Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the Neiman Marcus
Group, a privately held luxury retailer, owned by Ares Management
and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Mr. Stornant, 49, is a 19-year veteran of the Company and most
recently served as Vice President of Corporate Finance, with global
responsibility for the Company's corporate accounting, financial
planning, tax and credit functions. Mr. Stornant has held
numerous and increasingly significant operations and financial
roles within the Company over the past two decades, including Vice
President and General Manager of the Bates brand, Senior Vice
President of Finance and Administration for the Global Operations
Group, Vice President of Corporate Planning and Analysis, Senior
Vice President of Manufacturing Operations, and Director of
Internal Audit. In his new role, Mr. Stornant will report
directly to Blake W. Krueger,
Wolverine's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, and
serve as a member of the Company's executive management team.
"Mike Stornant is uniquely suited
to become Wolverine's new Chief Financial Officer, and I could not
be more pleased with this promotion. Mike has a long and
successful track record at the Company, and he possesses deep
knowledge and expertise in virtually every financial and
operational facet of our global business," stated Mr.
Krueger. "Mike's demonstrated leadership and dedication to
Wolverine will be tremendous assets as he assumes this key
leadership position for the Company."
"I am extremely honored by this new opportunity," commented Mr.
Stornant. "I have had the privilege of being associated with
Wolverine Worldwide for nearly 20 years, and I am excited to help
lead the global team as we work to build a family of the most
admired performance and lifestyle brands on earth and endeavor to
continue the Company's outstanding record of success."
Prior to Wolverine Worldwide, Mr. Stornant was a Certified
Public Accountant with Ernst & Young. Mr. Stornant holds
a BS in Accounting from Grand Valley State
University.
Commenting on Mr. Grimes' departure, Mr. Krueger stated, "Don
served Wolverine Worldwide extraordinarily well over the past seven
years, and was a tremendous partner to me and the Company through a
time of great transformation. I wish Don nothing but the best
as he pursues this new opportunity and want to personally thank him
for his many contributions to Wolverine."
ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE
With a commitment to service
and product excellence, Wolverine World Wide, Inc. is one of the
world's leading marketers of branded casual, active lifestyle,
work, outdoor sport, athletic, children's and uniform footwear and
apparel. The Company's portfolio of highly recognized brands
includes: Merrell®, Sperry®, Hush
Puppies®, Saucony®, Wolverine®,
Keds®, Stride Rite®, Sebago®,
Cushe®, Chaco®, Bates®,
HYTEST®, and Soft Style®. The Company
also is the global footwear licensee of popular brands including
Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. The Company's
products are carried by leading retailers in the U.S. and globally
in approximately 200 countries and territories. For additional
information, please visit our website,
www.wolverineworldwide.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains
forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the
Company's ability to build and develop its brands and to succeed in
the future. In addition, words such as "guidance," "estimates,"
"anticipates," "believes," "forecasts," "step," "plans,"
"predicts," "projects," "is likely," "expects," "intends,"
"should," "will," "confident," variations of such words, and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and
assumptions ("Risk Factors") that are difficult to predict with
regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of
occurrence. Risk Factors include, among others: the
Company's ability to successfully develop its brands and
businesses; the impact of financial and credit markets on the
Company, its suppliers and customers; changes in interest rates,
tax laws, duties, tariffs, quotas, or applicable assessments in
countries of import and export including anti-dumping measures and
trade defense actions; changes in consumer preferences, spending
patterns, buying patterns, price sensitivity or the demand for the
Company's products; changes in future pension funding requirements
and pension expenses; the ability to secure and protect owned
intellectual property or use licensed intellectual property; the
risk of impairment to goodwill and other intangibles; cancellation
of orders for future delivery; the failure of the U.S. Department
of Defense to exercise future purchase options or award new
contracts, or the cancellation or modification of existing
contracts by the Department of Defense or other military
purchasers; changes in relationships with, including the loss of,
significant customers; the availability and pricing of footwear
manufacturing capacity; reliance on foreign sourcing; failure of
international licensees and distributors to meet sales goals or to
make timely payments on amounts owed; risks related to the
significant investment in, and performance of, the Company's
consumer-direct business; disruption of technology systems; the
impact of regulation, regulatory or legal proceedings and legal
compliance risks; the cost, availability, and management of raw
materials, inventories, services, and labor for owned and contract
manufacturers; the impact of competition and pricing; currency
fluctuations and restrictions; the risks of doing business in
developing countries and politically or economically volatile
areas; retail buying patterns; consolidation in the retail sector;
the shift in consumer shopping and buying patterns including the
increased shift to e-commerce and mobile platforms; changes in
national, regional or global economic and market conditions; acts
and effects of war and terrorism; the impact of seasonality and
unpredictable weather conditions; problems affecting the Company's
distribution system, including service interruptions at shipping
and receiving ports; the potential breach of the Company's
databases, or those of its vendors, which contain certain personal
information or payment card data; the inability for any reason to
effectively compete in global footwear, apparel and consumer-direct
markets; strategic actions, including new initiatives and ventures,
acquisitions and dispositions, and the Company's success in
integrating acquired businesses; the success of the Company's
consumer-direct realignment initiatives; and additional factors
discussed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and exhibits thereto. The foregoing Risk
Factors, as well as other existing Risk Factors and new Risk
Factors that emerge from time to time, may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors
should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a
prediction of actual results. Furthermore, the Company
undertakes no obligation to update, amend, or clarify
forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE Wolverine Worldwide