Vibram North America has announced that Michael Gionfriddo will retire as the company's president and chief executive effective Dec. 31, and that Fabrizio Gamberini has been hired as the new president of the U.S. operation. Also, the company has announced that Richard Riegel, currently a member of U.S. company's board of directors, will be its new chairman. Both Gamberini's and Riegel's appointments will have immediate effect. Gionfriddo has been a member of Vibram's management team since 1998, and has been the company's president since 2011. Gamberini will work alongside Gionfriddo until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition. Gamberini joins Vibram after spending only nine months a chief executive of Geox North America until last June. Prior to that, he spent five years with Nike in Portland as general manager for direct-to-consumer operations and as general manager of football for the Americas. He subsequently spent eight years as general manager of Marcolin USA. He also worked for Hewlett Packard. Riegel was the founder and chief executive of Airstream 2 Go, the former president and CEO of Airstream Inc. and the former chief operating officer/group president of Thor Industries. Vibram North America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vibram SpA, based in Albizzate, Italy.

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