Hi-Tec Sports has appointed Peter Korver to head a new team covering the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. The move follows the Dutch-based sports and outdoor footwear company's decision to take over its own distribution in Germany and Austria from WB Compagnie, a specialist in corporate products based in eastern Germany, from the end of June.
Korver is a Dutch executive who has spent more than two decades in the European sports industry. He has been formally appointed managing director, supervising sales in the four countries of Hi-Tec as well as Magnum, the protective footwear brand owned by the Dutch group. The Dutch and Belgian markets were previously handled by John Calis, who left the company.
Until five months ago Korver was the Benelux sales director for Brunotti Sportswear, the Dutch board sports brand, which he left in the context of the tough market situation that has been affecting action sports brands in Europe lately. Korver is particularly well known in the Dutch sports market for his six years as Nike sales manager and nearly ten years at the helm of Puma Benelux until 2006, where he lifted the company's annual sales from about €2 million to more than €50 million. He was also briefly the country manager for IC Companys in the Netherlands and European general manager for Dobotex, the former Puma licensee for socks and bodywear, which has since been acquired by the German group.
Three former employees of WB Compagnie moved to Hi-Tec's head office in Amsterdam at the end of last month to become part of the new regional team. Hi-Tec said that the change would help to expand its sales in Germany and harmonize the brand's activities across the four countries, at a time when it is launching an expanded international apparel range.
Korver started to get acquainted with Hi-Tec at the OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen, where the group's stand featured several new awards. The Van Wezel family, which owns Hi-Tec, was particularly chuffed about a Lifetime Achievement Award given earlier this month by Stag, the British buying group, to Frank van Wezel, the company's ebullient founder.
He accepted the award with an improvised speech and a remark that is characteristic of both his energy and his humor: Van Wezel said he was puzzled to obtain a lifetime achievement award after forty years in the business, as he felt that he was just getting started.
