The Converse Blog: Nike names Michael Spillane new Converse CEO!

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(Business Wire)--
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) today announced that Jack Boys will retire as CEO of
Converse and company executive Michael Spillane has been named his successor.
Boys and Spillane will transition their roles through the end of the year. 

"With Jack`s leadership, Converse has experienced exceptional brand growth and
financial performance. His contribution to Converse`s success has helped make
the brand what it is today. Under his guidance, Converse just posted its most
profitable first quarter to date - demonstrating the power and potential of the
Converse brand," said Eunan McLaughlin, President NIKE, Inc. Affiliates. 

"We are very excited to have Michael in the CEO role. He has worked closely with
Jack for the past two years developing Converse`s growth strategy," said
McLaughlin. "Their leadership, passion and deep understanding of the Converse
consumer has uniquely positioned Converse for continued global growth." 

As CEO of Converse, Spillane will report directly to McLaughlin. Spillane brings
25 years of hands-on financial, textile and apparel experience to Converse. He
joined Converse in 2007 as President of North American Footwear. In less than a
year, he was asked to lead growth around the apparel business, as President,
North America and Global Product. Previously Spillane held CEO positions at
Polartec and Malden Mills as well as senior positions at Tommy Hilfiger and
Jockey. 

Converse Update: Nike CEO Mark Parker just made my week.

I've been cautiously optimistic about Converse the last few years.  I've had high expectations and sometimes they've been met and sometimes they haven't been met.  While growing up as a fan of Converse I sometimes found myself in Bad News Bears mode.  Which is the famous line "Wait til next year," cue music and the little glass bottles of beer showering down. 

With that being said, I am very excited about the upcoming line of hoops shoes for next season and I am anxiously waiting to see what additions will be made to the Converse roster of Schools and Athletes.    Now comes some exciting news from the Nike quarterly reports.  With everyone seemingly freaking out of the decline in Nike revenue for the quarter some rather positive news for Converse has been lost in the shuffle.

In the last year, Converse revenue grew 26 percent to $915 million.  To put that into some perspective, in 2003 Nike bought Converse for $315 million.  Keep in mind that the $915 is revenue, but it's only domestic revenue.  Converse global revenue for the last year was $2 Billion, with a B. 

What is even more exciting for me is that Nike CEO Mark Parker recently reviewed Converse product in the pipeline and was very impressed.   Parker said of the future product that it was,"incredibly strong and diverse" and "our most commercially-potent product ever created."

Read that statement again, because it took me a second to grasp it's real value.  Mark Parker said that future Converse product is, "our most commercially-potent product ever created."  If you're a fan of Converse that should fire you up.  It is exciting for me not only because of the statement, but because of who made it.  I am not sure if I've ever heard Mark Parker say anything this exciting about Converse.   

I got all of these quotes from Shop-Eat-Surf.com, go check it out for more info.  Thanks for checking out the blog, check back Monday for a new post.  Unless something breaks over the weekend about one of the NBA Rookies.