Oakley named BILL SCHMIDT as its CEO effective May 1,
succeeding LINK NEWCOMB, who will remain on the Board of
Dirs and assume the newly-created position of COO. Schmidt
has been a member of Oakley's Board of Dirs since '97 and
formerly served as VP/Worldwide Sports Marketing for
Gatorade (See THE DAILY, 3/26). Oakley Chair JIM JANNARD:
"Since 1984, Bill has helped grow Gatorade from a regional
brand of less than $100 million in annual revenues to a
position of global leadership with annual revenues of over
$1.7 billion. The board and I feel Oakley's opportunities
are similar to those of Gatorade more than a decade ago."
In a separate announcement, Oakley said its net income for
the first quarter totaled $1.4M, up 7.5% over the $1.3M
earned in last year's comparable period. Net sales totaled
$48.7M, a first-quarter record, up 18.8% over net sales of
$41.0M over the same period last year (Oakley).
SCHMIDT HAPPENS: In L.A., Leslie Earnest calls Oakley's
hiring of Schmidt a "surprise move." Schmidt, who was
introduced to Oakley by MICHAEL JORDAN, said that he "will
move to build the Oakley brand by focusing on marketing and
advertising, including using more star athletes to market
the company's sports-oriented eye wear and other products."
Earnest: "Initially, Schmidt said, he intends to better
define Oakley's consumer and then find ways to advertise and
market to the subgroups who buy Oakley products, including
surfers, skiers and snowboarders" (L.A. TIMES, 4/22).
MORE MOVES COMING? The WALL STREET JOURNAL calls the
management change "the latest in a series of transitions for
Oakley." Newcomb said that he doesn't expect more
management shuffling, but said, "Change is going to be
inevitable to get to the level of sales we are looking for."
Oakley's "stock has languished this year, due to several
quarters in which the company underperformed earnings
expectations" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/22).
