New Balance, the popular activewear brand, recently revealed a major change in its management. Rob DeMartini, who has been the longtime President and CEO of the Boston-based brand, will be stepping down on Dec 31 to be succeeded by Joe Preston, the present Chief Commercial Officer of the company.
The owners of the brand, Anna and Jim Davis showed their gratitude for DeMartini’s exceptional contribution by saying, “On behalf of the Davis family and our 8,200 associates worldwide, we would like to thank Rob for his strong leadership in driving our aggressive growth during the last 12 years and his unwavering commitment to reflecting and maintaining our unique company culture.”
New Balance witnessed a growth from $1.5 billion in 2007 to $4.2 billion in 2018 under the leadership of DeMartini. The company also expanded its core speciality running space and international sales from 30 to 65 percent in the same duration.
“New Balance is a very special company, built on the values of teamwork, integrity and total customer satisfaction established by Jim and Anna Davis. It has truly been a privilege to add to the foundation our ownership established and I will forever be grateful for the warm welcome I was afforded by the Davis Family, our associates and industry partners when I was a newcomer to the world of footwear and apparel,” DeMartini said
The new CEO and President, Joe Preston, joined the company as Senior Product Manager 13 years back to be appointed as the vice president of international, Asia/Pacific in 2002. Since then, he has seen a constant growth as he became the executive vice president, international in 2008 to finally assume the position of the President of the brand’s global product, R&D and sports marketing initiatives.
“I’m honored and humbled to take on this role and want to thank Rob for his leadership over the past 12 years,” said Preston. “We have an incredible team of associates and partners around the globe and together we will drive even greater speed, agility and innovation in this modern age of retail and continue to build this iconic brand while strengthening our purpose-driven culture.”
