Mike Owens Named Gander Mountain President and COO
OutdoorHub 11.01.13
Gander Mountain Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer David Pratt announced on Thursday that the nation’s largest retail network of outdoor specialty stores has promoted Mike Owens to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer.
Owens had been Gander Mountain’s Executive Vice President and COO since joining the company in 2009.
“This is an exciting time for Gander Mountain, and we are very optimistic about our future,” said Pratt, who has overseen a sizeable expansion in the past 18 months. “In Mike we have a true leader in driving further growth and success for Gander Mountain across our network of stores. I offer my personal congratulations to Mike on a well-deserved promotion.”
Owens joined Gander Mountain after spending 27 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Anheuser-Busch. After leading the merchant, marketing, distribution and store operations group, he will take on responsibilities for Finance and Information Systems. Reporting to Owens will be Bob Vold – CFO, Kerry Graskewicz – EVP Chief Merchant, Steve Uline – EVP Marketing, Derek Siddons – SVP Operations – Retail and E-Commerce, and Chris Juelich – Director, Gander Mountain Academy.
Eric Jacobsen – EVP, General Counsel and Director of Real Estate Site Selection, and Lisa Schmidt – SVP Facilities Development, Store Design and Visual Merchandising will continue to report to Pratt.
Gander Mountain is in the midst of a sizeable expansion, with stores opening in Valdosta, GA, Morrisville, NC, Lafayette, IN, Opelika, AL, Florence, AL, Winston-Salem, NC, Gastonia, NC, Monroe, NC, Rogers, MN, Tuscaloosa, AL, Charlottesville, VA, Lewisville, TX, Mesquite, TX, Round Rock, TX and San Antonio, TX over the past 18 months. Additional new stores will open in Dothan, AL, Albany, GA and Tampa, FL in the coming weeks, with more new store announcements expected soon.
