Family-owned and operated since 2001, sock brand Feetures is celebrating 20 years in business and is implementing a number of organizational changes that are part of a longer term succession planning process.

This week CEO and founder Hugh Gaither announced several changes within the Feetures leadership team that went into effect on January 1 to support his succession planning process. Gaither’s vision is to evolve the organization so it will continue to support and maintain its founding principles and culture amidst a significant growth period expected within the next three to five years.

As part of the transition, Gaither will remain CEO focused on key specialty accounts while also maintaining strategic responsibility for all sales channels, including Specialty Retail, National Accounts, E-commerce and International.

Feetures national sales manager for footwear specialty retailers, Steve Hallinan, has been promoted to key accounts manager. In this role Hallinan will become the point person and primary account manager for key accounts that were managed by Gaither for many years.

Feetures national sales manager for Run Specialty, Dan Gardner, has been promoted to national sales manager for all specialty accounts, including both run and footwear specialty retailers.

In addition to these changes and as part of the long-term planning, Gaither’s son, John Gaither, is now COO for Feetures, handling overall responsibility for operations, including distribution, supply chain, production planning, product development and innovation. He was previously VP–product development.

Gaither’s other son, Joe Gaither, has also been promoted to executive VP, where he will oversee all e-commerce, marketing and customer service. Joe was previously VP–marketing.

“2021 marks our 20^th year in business and that is a huge milestone for a family-owned business such as ours,” says Hugh Gaither. “As we prepare for the future, we know it is necessary to have a proactive approach to the succession planning process to ensure growth and stability for our retail partners, our customers, and internal team to feel confident in the long term health and viability of this very special company.”