22 January 1998: Sunglass Hut International, Inc. recently announced John Watson as President and Chief Executive Officer, who previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Esprit De C…
22 January 1998: Sunglass Hut International, Inc. recently announced John Watson as President and Chief Executive Officer, who previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Esprit De Corp. GmbH in Dusseldorf, Germany before returning to the United States in 1995 to serve as Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing/Planning for Reebok International, Ltd. Watson also served earlier in his career as a senior management consultant for McKinsey & Company, Inc. “The hiring of a new President and Chief Executive Officer is a critical milestone in our efforts to build a strong senior management team to guide Sunglass Hut“s future growth. The impressive combination of John“s proven strategic marketing expertise and his strong background in retail, wholesale and international operations made the hiring decision surprisingly easy for our Board of Directors. There is no question that John Watson has the contemporary brand building skills and management philosophies that were at the top of our search criteria,” said James N. Hauslein, Chairman of the Board and acting Chief Executive Officer of Sunglass Hut, Sunglass Hut International is the world“s largest specialty retailer of sunglasses, with stores located throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. As of January 3, 1998, Sunglass Hut International operated 2,124 sunglass specialty locations and 77 Watch Station stores.