Collective Brands Inc. is installing a new president and chief executive for its Lexington-based Stride Rite Corp. division that it acquired in May for $800 million.
Brookline resident Greg Ribatt will step into the position on Jan. 7 to oversee brands including Stride Rite, Keds, Sperry Top-Sider, Robeez and Saucony. He most recently led Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC, a New York luxury fashion footwear company where he oversaw day-to-day operations and the expansion of its retail, handbag and licensing businesses.
Ribatt, 39, said his first objective at Stride Rite is to work with the brand presidents to fine-tune long-term strategic plans and actively pursue growth opportunities, including in international markets.
“Gregg Ribatt is a fourth-generation footwear industry expert with proven experience in driving strong business results from his strategic work developing and growing Bennett Footwear Group and its stable of brands such as Franco Sarto, Via Spiga and Etienne Aigner, among others,” Matt Rubel, Collective Brands’ president and CEO, said in a statement.
Ribatt worked for 13 years at Bennett Footwear Group, serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Massachusetts company before orchestrating its 2005 sale to Brown Shoe. He followed his father, his mother’s father and mother’s grandfather into the footwear business.
Rick Thornton, president and chief operating officer of Stride Rite since 2003, left the company to pursue other opportunities, according to Collective Brands. Former Stride Rite chairman and CEO David Chamberlain retired when the acquisition closed, and Rubel has since served as interim CEO.
