The US shoe and clothing retailer Deckers Brands will have to do without Chief Operating Officer (COO) David Lafitte in the future. Lafitte will step down on June 24 to pursue another career opportunity, the parent company of brands including Ugg, Hoka and Teva announced on Friday.
At the same time, the company promoted Angela Ogbechie to the newly created post of chief supply chain officer, effective June 24. In the future, she will report directly to CEO Dave Powers and manage “all activities related to the supply chain and logistics” of the group, Deckers Brands said. These areas were most recently part of COO Lafitte’s area of responsibility.
Ogbechie has been with the company since 2008 and has held various management positions during that time. Most recently she acted as SVP, Global Operations & Supply Chain Strategy. CEO Powers explained her promotion that has now been announced: “Angela is perfectly suited for this new task,” he said in a statement. “She brings the right mix of expertise and creativity from 14 years working in all aspects of Deckers’ global supply chain.” Lafitte has built “a world-class supply chain organization” in his seven years as COO, and Ogbechie will now build on his work and implement further innovations, says Powers.