ASICS today announced the appointment of Richard Sullivan to president and COO for ASICS North America (ANA). Further, Barbara Turner will assume the role of chief administrative officer and Sean Condon has been named VP–omnichannel. These changes to the ASICS North America leadership team go into effect starting on November 1, 2020.
Sullivan, a 25-year veteran of the footwear industry, most recently served as the ANA executive VP overseeing digital, sales, marketing and merchandising, where he was instrumental in restructuring, evolving and ultimately growing the business over the last year. In 2016, he joined the brand as the president of ASICS Canada.
“We have so much confidence in Richard’s ability to lead North America during this pivotal time for the region,” says current ASICS North America CEO, Koichiro Kodama, who has been appointed to a new global role as managing executive officer based at ASICS’ headquarters in Kobe, Japan. “He steps into this role at a time where the brand is seeing strong momentum even amongst a challenging business climate. We know Richard can take this brand even further as he is a proven industry leader with an acute understanding of our brand, accounts, consumers and overall business in North America.”
“Under Kodama-san’s tireless and genuine leadership, our business has made tremendous progress in North America,” says Sullivan. “He has certainly laid a solid foundation of great teamwork and focus that we will continue to build upon with best in class products and innovation and a strong connection with both our customers and consumers.”
Along with the promotion of Sullivan, Barbara Turner will step into a new role of chief administrative officer for the region. Turner was previously VP–human Resources at ASICS and joined the brand in 2016. She has more than 23 years of experience within the human resources field and was recently named by the Orange County National Human Resources Association as the 2019 Human Resources Executive of the Year.
Sean Condon, who currently serves as the senior director overseeing Digital, Ecommerce and Retail, will be promoted to VP–omnichannel. Condon will continue to set and implement strategy for ASICS’ digital and direct to consumer businesses.
In one other move, starting in January, 2021, Naomichi Hatori will join the ANA leadership team as executive VP–strategy. He comes to the region after serving as GM of geography strategy division at ASICS headquarters in Kobe. He will be responsible for setting and implementing global strategy across the region.
Along with the new appointments, Sullivan’s ANA leadership team includes Paul Ljucovic, chief financial officer; Ian Dickinson, VP–categories; and Sean Mannion, VP–U.S. Sales.