Columbia Sportswear promotes two senior executives

Columbia Sportswear Company has promoted David M. Brulé to serve as General Manager of the company's wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, based in London, Ontario, Canada, effective immediately. The company also announced the appointment of Richelle T. Luther to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource officer.

Commenting on the promotions, Chief Executive Officer Tim Boyle said, “Over the past seven years, Richelle has become a trusted advisor to management and the board on a wide variety of strategic issues. We are confident in her ability to lead our efforts to attract the diverse skills and talents we will need going forward to support sustainable, profitable growth through our portfolio of active brands.”

“We are fortunate to have someone of Dave's character and experience to lead our Canadian team," added Russ Hopcus, Columbia Sportswear's Senior Vice president of North American sales, adding, “He has a deep knowledge of the Canadian market, strong relationships with our key customers, and the full support of our corporate leadership team.”

Brulé will be responsible for partnering with Columbia Sportswear Company's brand leaders to advance and execute sales, distribution, and marketing strategies in Canada, where Columbia's brands are sold to approximately 1,000 wholesale customers and directly to consumers through owned outlet stores and ecommerce sites.

Brulé has served as interim general manager and director of the company's Canadian retail operations for the past year, and previously served as director of operations from 2009 to 2011. In addition to his career at Columbia, he was senior vice president of Green Earth Stores, and served for 11 years as director of retail for Reebok Canada.

In her new role, Luther will be responsible for directing the company's efforts to attract, develop and retain key talent to support the company's portfolio of active brands, which include Columbia, Sorel, Mountain Hardwear, prAna, Montrail and OutDry. Luther has served as the company's deputy general counsel since 2008. Prior to Columbia Sportswear Company, she served as corporate secretary and chief governance officer at Northwest Natural Gas from 2002 to 2008, and was an attorney at the Portland, Oregon law offices of Stoel Rives LLP from 1997 to 2002.