It’s been a little over a week since Ann Hebert, the former Nike VP/GM who oversaw the brand’s North America business, stepped down from her position after a Bloomberg Businessweek story uncovered her son’s sneaker resale operation. Today, the brand has announced her replacement for the position.
Nike named Sarah Mensah as its new VP/GM of North America along with Amy Montagne named the brand’s newest VP/GM of the Asia Pacific and Latin America (APLA) region. Both will report to Heidi O’Neill, Nike’s president of consumer and marketplace. Mensah’s most recent role was VP/GM, of the brand’s APLA business. She also served as the SVP and Chief Operating Officer for the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers before starting her career at Nike in 2013. Montagne is an employee of 16 years and some of her prior roles include VP/GM of Global Merchandising, VP/GM of Global Women’s, and VP/GM of Global Categories.
“Sarah and Amy are two dynamic leaders, bringing deep experience and expertise to these important roles,” O’Neill said. “Sarah has continually demonstrated her ability to deliver strong results across our geographic and Jordan Brand businesses and I look forward to her bringing those skills to the North America team. Amy’s breadth of experience across Nike’s global categories – including Women’s – and most recently leading our Men’s consumer construct will be instrumental in leading future growth for APLA.”
This past Monday, Nike CEO John Donahoe addressed the situation surrounding Hebert’s resignation and the diminishing trust from Nike fans regarding limited sneaker releases. One of the ways he plans to remedy the situation is to do an inspection of the brand’s launch process to ensure shoppers have confidence in future sneaker drops.
“There’s no value more core to who we are than the trust our consumers put into us and our brand and our products,” Donahoe said. “And the fact of the matter is, this incident has sparked questions in some of our consumers about whether they can trust us, particularly around launch product.”
