Merrell Architect Dies
Source: footwearnews.com
Natalie Zmuda
Oct. 22, 2007
NEW YORK (Oct. 22, 2007) — Jacques Lavertue, who transformed the outdoor industry with his vision for the Merrell brand, died at home on Oct. 13, following an eight-month battle with cancer. He was 53.
Lavertue, who was president of Wolverine World Wide’s Outdoor Group, was heralded as a visionary by executives, retailers and co-workers. He spent nearly 20 years as the force behind Merrell, which grew from a $1 million company to a $450 million powerhouse during that time. “He had an unbelievable drive for the brand, and it showed,” said Scott Sible, president of Merrell. “He took Merrell from nothing to a sizeable global business.”
Lavertue was born Feb. 10, 1954, in Quebec City, Quebec. He graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Commerce and then embarked on a career in the computer industry, holding sales and management roles at Hewlett Packard and the Computer Communications Group of Bell Canada. But the outdoors beckoned.
“He got tired of it one day and said, ‘I’m going to do what I love to do.’ And he loved to ski and waterski and cycle,” explained Sible. “So he started with a retail company called Sport Experts as a buyer. He followed his passion, which was the outdoors, and gave up a very lucrative career in the early days of the computer age.”
Lavertue first touched the Merrell brand in 1988, when he was lured away from Sport Experts. Doug Barbor, who founded Karhu Canada in 1976, brought Lavertue on board to serve as the VP of marketing for the hockey, ski and Merrell divisions. “I hired him because he was an excellent buyer when I was selling to him, and I wanted him to come work within our company,” Barbor told Footwear News. “I certainly recognized his business acumen back then. He was a very intelligent, street-smart marketer, very loyal and futuristic. He [knew] where the market was going and what could be done.”
Lavertue made his way up the ranks at Karhu, eventually becoming VP and GM for Merrell, which was then based in Burlington, Vt. The brand struggled in the early 1990s, but Chris Goddard, president of public relations firm CGPR, which has represented Merrell for 15 years, said that even then Lavertue knew the brand had enormous potential. “Jacques was definitely dedicated to his vision,” she said. “He was determined, and he knew where he wanted to take the brand.”
By 1996, Lavertue’s influence could clearly be seen in the brand’s new constructions and lines — the 45 Degrees and Millennium series both launched that year. “He basically changed the outdoor industry,” said Sible. “His vision 10 years ago was to do things lighter and faster and with color, and it took off globally.”
A year later, in 1997, Wolverine World Wide snapped up the Merrell label and with it Lavertue. “During the acquisition process, we saw that he operated with a passion and intensity coupled with a keen business acumen,” said Wolverine CEO and President Blake Krueger, who led the Merrell acquisition. “One of our main objectives was to convince him to move to Wolverine and be part of the executive team.”
“[Jacques] was absolutely the key to the acquisition,” added Tim O’Donovan, Wolverine’s non-executive chairman, who at the time of the acquisition was president and COO. “What intrigued us about the business, [beyond] the great brand name, was the strength of the management team. They had a very clear vision for the brand.”
Lavertue relocated to Rockford, Mich., from Vermont and was appointed VP and GM of Wolverine’s outdoor footwear division. “It was a good fit for him personally,” said Krueger, noting that Lavertue was able to indulge his love of skiing, cycling and hockey in Michigan. “And it was a good fit from a business standpoint. [Before] he was operating a very small brand without the operational and financial support available at a bigger company like ours. Jacques and the Merrell team were able to blossom [at Wolverine] and build Merrell on a global basis.”
Indeed, the very next year, in 1998, Merrell launched its revolutionary Jungle Moc. “It’s an iconic product,” said Danny Wasserman, owner of New York-based Tip Top Shoes. “[Jacques] took sport shoes to another level, whether or not he created the lifestyle, he knew what the lifestyle needed.”
“The Jungle Moc gave us permission to be not only core outdoor but lifestyle,” added Goddard. “Jacques was able to broaden the perspective, so outdoor wasn’t necessarily all about core. It was inclusive.”
In 1999, Merrell’s success and Lavertue’s goals for the brand were further realized when Merrell was named FN’s Brand of the Year. That year, the brand sold 2.2 million pairs of shoes, compared to just 700,000 pairs the year before. In an interview at the time, Lavertue likened the building of a strong brand to the nurturing of a child. “You must feed it, learn from it,” he said. “It must learn certain values. It goes through all the phases of a developing child.”
Those closest to him said Lavertue had a profound love for the brand he cultivated over the past two decades and was exceedingly proud of what the brand had become. “The Merrell brand was really an embodiment of his own personal vision,” said O’Donovan. “He was incredibly committed to it and had that entrepreneurial passion for making it happen. Wolverine was very fortunate to have had someone with that capability.”
“When I think Merrell, I think of him, and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way,” added Tarek Hassan, co-owner of The Tannery. “He was the face of Merrell.”
Beyond the brand’s critical and financial success, executives said that the team Lavertue built serves as the best testament to his leadership and enterprising spirit. “His real legacy, and the thing he was most proud of, was the team he was able to build,” said Krueger. “Some he recruited to the company and some he convinced to transfer over from our other branded groups.”
“Everybody that worked for him loved him,” added Sible. “He had that sort of personality [that was able] to put together a team of people that was nonpolitical. There was no in-fighting. It just worked.”
What made him a good boss was what also made him a good retail partner, said Denise Friend, product manager of women’s footwear at Kent, Wash.-based REI. When Lavertue visited the retailer, he would meet with senior leadership and sit in on meetings, she said. “A good leader is always a good listener. And he was always interested in our feedback,” she said. “You could say things to him, and he would listen and make a change. When Merrell started getting into more casuals, we had a concern because REI is primarily a retailer of performance product. We had a lot of conversations, and he assured us that [Merrell wouldn’t lose its performance focus], and it didn’t.”
In recent years, Lavertue’s role at Wolverine grew with the addition of the Sebago and Patagonia labels. In 2003, when The Outdoor Group was officially formed, he took on the role of president. “He really was very instrumental in the success of this company and helping to change the focus of this company and broaden the reach into the outdoor category,” said O’Donovan.
Lavertue is survived by his wife, Caroline; son, Alexander; sister, Lise; and father, Armand. The family requests that any donations be made to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation for pediatric oncology.
