Columbia Sportswear has named Cory Long the next president of its Sorel brand, the company announced Thursday.
Long will step into the role in December. He succeeds Mark Nenow, who left in June to focus on his health. Craig Zanon, Columbia’s senior vice president of emerging brands, has been leading the brand in the interim.
“We are delighted to have Cory join the SOREL family,” Zanon said in the release. “His strength of leadership and consumer-champion mindset will be key in fueling the next era of SOREL growth.“
Long most recently served as global general manager and chief global merchant of DC Shoes, per the release. He has also held leadership positions at Mitchell & Ness, Asics, Supra, and Converse.
He’s the latest in a series of new hires for Columbia. In August, the company named Tricia Shumavon the president of its prAna brand, a line that Columbia has been eyeing to reposition for growth. Columbia also recently re-hired Woody Blackford as its chief product officer. Blackford was with Columbia for 14 years before joining Canada Goose in 2020.
In Columbia’s most recent quarter, it reported Sorel generated $122.1 million in sales, a 9% increase from the same period last year. Despite this, analysts at the time of the report questioned the lower growth outlook for the brand, which the company once predicted could create a $1 billion revenue opportunity.
“I would say that the opportunity for us to continue to grow it into a year-round brand has been slightly more challenging than we thought,” CEO Tim Boyle said during the call. “And so, it’s still dependent heavily on winter product, [with] an incredible reputation, our plan is to continue to focus on expanding with the seasonal nature of the products to take advantage of the incredible brand that Sorel has.”
