Wolverine Worldwide is making some changes to its Work Group leadership team as the company looks to turnaround the division that has been lagging behind its winning Saucony and Merrell brands.
On Tuesday, the Rockford, Mich.-based company promoted Mike Maloney to global general manager of the Wolverine brand, a newly created role for the largest brand in the Work Group, which also includes the 1000 Mile by Wolverine, Cat Footwear, Merrell Work, Bates, HyTest, and Harley-Davidson Footwear labels.
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Maloney, who previously served as chief product officer of the Work Group, will now be responsible for leading the brand’s strategy and execution across all global markets, growing its category-leading work boot business while accelerating its premium positioning and cultural relevance.
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Along with Maloney, Ryan Drew has joined the company as chief product officer of the Work Group, overseeing all product strategies and direction. Drew joins from Under Armour, where he spent the last 10 years serving in multiple leadership positions including vice president of marketing for running, sportswear and basketball as well as general manager of the Curry brand and vice president of global footwear. Before Under Armour, Drew held positions at Coolcore as well as And 1.
Finally, Ben Harrison has been appointed as general manager of Cat Footwear International, leading the brand’s international business with a focus on accelerating global growth and strengthening regional accountability in priority markets. He brings more than 15 years of experience at Wolverine Worldwide, most recently as general manager of Merrell Canada.
Justin Cupps, who joined Wolverine Worldwide as president of the Work Group in November, said in a statement that this new leadership structure represents a “key investment moment” for the division.
“[These moves] allow us to move faster, make more intentional and disruptive decisions to accelerate global growth, and fulfill our mission to ‘make the world work better’ through products engineered for performance and designed for life,” Cupps said. “By strengthening how we connect product, insight, and storytelling, we’re positioning the Wolverine brand to build on the trust and credibility it has earned over generations and provide new innovations for how people will work and live tomorrow.”
These leadership changes come after Chris Hufnagel, Wolverine Worldwide’s president and chief executive officer, told FN in an interview after the company’s fourth quarter earnings call in February that the team has “identified the challenges” facing the division.
“I think we didn’t bring enough innovation into the Wolverine brand, and the product line got a little bit tired,” he said at the time. “We also missed the Western trend. I think our demand creation engine was a little bit splintered across a lot of different ideas, with nothing big enough to really move the needle. And I also think we didn’t do a great job managing the marketplace, segmentation, distribution and/or specialty work business, which we frankly, got away from.”
Now with the background work done, the company is starting to see the division see some improvement in the fourth quarter. Hufnagel said that the Wolverine brand saw its best market share order in five years, which he noted is a good metric for how the new product is being bought at market.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “In fact, we only called a flat year for the Wolverine brand in 2026 versus 2025. But, if we can get [the] Wolverine brand stabilized, it would be very good for the company and good for our shareholders.”