Nicolas Warchalowski, sales and marketing director at Haglöfs, will become the Swedish outdoor company’s chief executive from the start of next year. He replaces Mats Hedblom, who will remain in touch with the company as its corporate adviser.
The change comes just a few months after Haglöfs was acquired by Asics, the Japanese running brand, but Hedblom insisted that he started preparing the management change two years ago, long before Asics came into the picture.
Warchalowski has been marketing and sales director since last year, after a stint as North American chief executive for the Red Bull Carpe Diem division and several management functions at Procter & Gamble. The identity of his successor will be confirmed next month, but it appears that the marketing and sales function will be split, and that the reshuffle will involve at least one internal applicant.
Hedblom has been with Haglöfs for more than three decades, aptly steering its expansion from a Swedish company to a high-profile and fast-growing European outdoor brand. Hedblom said he would turn 60 years old next year and was relishing the opportunity to go out and use Haglöfs products more often.
Furthermore, Hedblom will also relinquish his seat on the new Haglöfs board, which was formed in September, after the acquisition by Asics a month earlier. As before, the board consists of a mixture of non-executive and executive members.
The new chairman is Lars Göthlin, a lawyer, who had already been on the board as an independent member. The board comprises four representatives from Asics: Katsumi Kato, general manager for the global business management department at the Japanese company; Isao Kato, general manager of the accounting and finance department at Asics; Alistair Cameron, the running brand’s European manager; and Ron Pietersen, chief financial officer of Asics Europe. Jim Jonsson, Haglöfs’ chief financial officer, is another board member, along with Hedblom. Warchalowski should join the board upon approval by the company’s shareholders at their upcoming annual meeting.
While Haglöfs’ managers are drafting a long-term plan for the company, until 2012 they are implementing the strategy that was outlined at the time of its acquisition. Haglöfs and Asics have been utilizing some financial synergies, in terms of access to capital and currency hedging, for example. However, managers of the two brands are still adamant that their operations should remain separate, and they are not implementing any integration in terms of distribution.
When it comes to geographic expansion, their most immediate focus is on Asia, where Haglöfs will have more openings through Asics. It has been in Japan for many years but regards further growth in the country as a clear opportunity. Second in line is South Korea, probably followed by China.
In Europe, the company has set its sights on Eastern Europe. For the time being it covers only the Czech Republic through its operation in Germany. However, it will study other Eastern European markets in the next few months and decide in the first half of next year in which countries it will be seeking distribution.
