2.31%Chris Hufnagel, CEO of Wolverine Worldwide, which owns Saucony & Merrell, has said that the footwear company is looking to massively reduce their sourcing from China to near zero by 2026.
Apologies to those that have had enough of listening to news about the two T’s, Trump & tariffs. Wolverine Worldwide (WWW) was up by 10% yesterday as CEO Chris Hufnagel advised that they were looking to scrap Chinese sourcing by 2026 and “mitigate” the risks of Donald Trump’s reciprocal trade tariffs. Currently the Rockford based footwear company sources around 10% of their products from China which has gradually reduced over the last few years. With the 145% tariff rate for Chinese goods entering the USA, the impact on companies like Wolverine Worldwide will be absolutely huge, biting into profits & adding extra costs to either the business, or the end consumer.
The plan moving forward is to leverage their supply chain with “dual sourcing flexibility” to limit their exposure to the elevated tariffs of goods sourced from China entering the USA & re-directing products to other markets outside of the USA where they have demand. For Q1 2025, the Saucony & Merrell owner reported a total revenue of $412.3 million which was up 4% from the same period last year. Wolverine Worldwide also expects further growth moving into Q2 with a predicted turnover of between $440 million & $450 million for the second quarter. Also don’t forget to subscribe to Sneaker Jobs & follow @sneaker_jobs to keep up to date with all the latest industry news.
I’m pleased to report our business is strong and growing outside the U.S, up mid-teens year over year in the first quarter, with a good outlook for the balance of the year. We have a solid plan to protect profitability, while also working to protect the momentum we generated across a range of model scenarios.
Chris Hufnagel – CEO Wolverine Worldwide
