James Bateman Email & Phone Number

20+ years’ experience in the Footwear & Sportswear industry, including Marketing Management, Licensing, Purchasing and Merchandise/Inventory Management, with a focus on quality control, business development and building collaborative relationships with staff and customers. Highly motivated, visionary leader who employs creative problem-solving and interpersonal communication skills to manage and lead multi-disciplinary teams.

Listed skills include Microsoft Office, Management, Customer Service, Microsoft Excel, and 23 others.

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  Brands President (Wholesale Division)

  Chinook Footwear

  2013 - Present - Chinook Footwear

  Managing the wholesale division for Chinook Footwear, including Mozo and Ulu brands. Leading team of 25+ direct reports, including Product Line Managers, Supply Chain Manager, Marketing Manager, Warehouse Manager, Customer Service and Independent Sales Representatives. Utilizing and collaborating with contracted factories in China and Taiwan, while navigating supply, shipping, pricing, product availability and quality assurance. Overseeing product development, designer/cosmetic sampling and match process and pricing/quantity negotiations. Capturing and segmenting market requirements and opportunities. Validating product concepts and market fit. Partnering with Product Marketing for go-to-market execution. Defining product road mapping. Communicating with stakeholders (internal and external) and delivering on services/timelines. Significant contributions towards annual revenue increases, pre-sales and service team enhancements/offerings. Cold calling and travelling to accommodate customer base. Highlights of Initiatives include, but not limited to:- Managing major accounts across the U.S., including Fred Meyer/Kroger, Dunham’s Sports, Work World, Shoe Carnival and Bealls, with annual sales in the multi-millions.- Led the acquisition and integration of new brand, doubling company’s yearly volume.- Shifted marketing strategy from finding large regional chains for exclusive sales to creating a sales representative agency with 19 sales representatives, catalogues, sample sets and attendance of regional trade shows, resulting in a 40% increase in accounts during first season.- Coordinated launch of 2 new categories, hikers and uniforms with pre-season book outs and co-op/mark out channels.