EPSTEIN HEADS FILA USA
NEW YORK — As part of its restructuring plan, Fila USA has named Jon Epstein president.
He succeeds Enrico Frachey, who was named chairman of Fila Holdings SpA, the parent company, last month.
Epstein resigned Friday as director of key account sales at Adidas America, where he had worked for more than 20 years, an Adidas spokesman said. Adidas has not yet named a successor.
On Thursday, Epstein will address executives at the firm’s quarterly footwear sales meeting at U.S. headquarters in Sparks, Md. Epstein, who will be based at Sparks and reports to Frachey, will be responsible for sales and marketing of footwear, apparel and hard goods, as well as all administrative functions. He assumes some of the responsibilities formerly handled by Robert Liewald, who left Fila Friday as senior executive vice president of footwear.
Last month, the athletic footwear and activewear maker, based in Biella, Italy, reported that U.S. apparel sales declined 57.5 percent to $24.3 million in the three months ended March 31. At that time, Fila announced plans to consolidate operations in its U.S. offices. The firm is closing its Boulder, Colo., design office, reducing its office here from 100 employees to 40 and transferring most design operations to its Portland, Ore., office, said Howe Burch, vice president of advertising and communications. Some of the displaced workers will relocate to the Portland office.