An almost 30-year veteran of athletic footwear company Nike, Archie McEachern, has been named vice-president and chief merchandising officer, a newly created role, at VF-owned safety and work shoe brand Timberland. Report by Footwearbiz.

Mr Archie McEachern

Mr McEachern, who most recently served as chief executive at basketball start-up 360 Hoops, previously held senior basketball shoe development roles at Nike, also spending three years in Tokyo as merchandising vice-president for Japan and, later, two years in Shanghai in a similar position, responsible for overseeing the Greater China market.

At Timberland, he will report to global brand president, Susie Mulder.

Ms Mulder said the appointment “completes the transformation” of the company’s global product management reshuffling. “With Archie’s breadth of merchandising experience, not to mention his strong leadership skills and boundless energy, we are now running on all cylinders and [are] ready to propel our brand and business into the future,” she explained.