An industry veteran with experience in product creation and global operations, Joe Vernachio, will have the task of finding a new strategy to revamp Mountain Hardwear, the struggling brand of Columbia Sportswear. He has been hired to be the next president of the brand, starting on April 3. He will report to Bryan Timm, president of Columbia Sportswear, who held the post on an interim basis after the departure of John Walbrecht, who is now running Black Diamond. Vernachio has been in the athletic and outdoor industry for 30 years, starting in 1987 as a product manager for Chouinard Equipment. He then worked for 12 years with Nike and for four years at Roots, the Canadian retail chain. He subsequently took care of operations, product and sourcing at Sypder Active Sports for six years. Since 2011, he has been serving as global vice president of product and operations for The North Face.

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