Quiksilver assembles centralized global management team

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Mar 6, 2013

After signaling its business strategy by bringing its brands back to their roots, Quiksilver continues to lay the groundwork for its new organization.

CEO Andy Mooney, who took over the reins of Quiksilver from Bob McKnight in mid-January, has chosen an inner circle to manage the various key elements of the group at an international level. The senior appointments have created an array of strategic positions that cut across all the group’s brands.

Pierre Agnès, president of Quiksilver Europe, was appointed as global head of apparel. The company is looking to hire a new chief marketing officer for international operations, and CEO Andy Mooney also convinced Tom Hartge to take over Quiksilver footwear. The manager brings with him 28 years of sector experience garnered at Nike. Most recently, he was a consultant to Patagonia for footwear regarding its licensee Wolverine Worldwide.

As for logistics, Andy Mooney has brought in sourcing specialist Kasey Mazzone, who has served as senior vice president of sourcing and production for American Eagle Outfitters. She also spent a good part of her career at Levi Strauss Group from 1991 to 2004, where her last position was vice-president, Asia and Africa sourcing region. Most recently, she served as senior vice president, global sourcing at Lands' End, a mail order and Internet retailer that operates internationally.

“We are centralizing key functions and responsibilities across Quiksilver, Roxy and DC in order to strengthen our brands, grow sales and drive operational efficiencies,” said the CEO. “Both Tom and Kasey bring world class expertise to their respective roles, as well as extensive experience with global brands. These appointments, along with Pierre’s new role and the addition of a Chief Marketing Officer, will make our company more competitive and are key elements in our evolution from a regional management structure to a global structure with experienced leaders guiding each key functional area of the company.”

It remains to be seen how this globalization of the company’s structure will affect the teams and its European units, which were recently quickly blamed (too quickly?) in the context of economic difficulties in Europe.