Inside Wolverine’s New Innovation Hub in Boston
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
After officially cutting the ribbon at its new global Innovation Hub in Boston late last month, Wolverine Worldwide is giving a glimpse inside the new space.
The opening was announced on the company’s third quarter 2024 earnings call last week by Chris Hufnagel, president and chief executive officer of Wolverine Worldwide.
The hub, located in the west end of Boston, is designed to tap into the region’s product talent and augment the teams in Michigan, the CEO said.
Now, more details are being shared.
Watch on FN
The new 11,000-sq.-ft. facility is located at 90 Causeway Street and will house employees from the company’s design and product teams, including Saucony product team members in design, development, product management and merchandising.
“Boston is an amazing city with a deep connection to our brands and exceptional design and footwear talent, and we are excited to open our first global Innovation Hub in the heart of downtown,” Hufnagel said in a statement on Thursday. “With this Innovation Hub, our team of design, development, and merchandising leaders are well-positioned to design awesome products and continue transforming Wolverine Worldwide into a consumer-focused builder of great global brands.”
The opening comes one month after Wolverine Worldwide opened new office space in Zhuhai, China, and two months after opening a new workspace in Hong Kong. Additionally, the company’s Sweaty Betty brand relocated to new offices this summer following renovations to the company’s King’s Place office in London.
Renovations to Wolverine Worldwide’s global headquarters in Michigan are currently underway, the company added. New environments at the Michigan HQ for Merrell and Saucony – the company’s largest brands – are slated for completion in spring 2025.
“We believe that world-class environments are key to attracting and retaining talent, unlocking our team’s full potential, and driving our business forward,” Hufnagel added. “Spaces that encourage creativity, collaboration, and innovation are critical as we continue building a new company for the future.”
This news comes over a year after Wolverine Worldwide announced the planned closure of its Boston headquarters by the end of 2023. According to Hufnagel in Aug. 2023, the U.S. office consolidation was announced earlier this week and is meant to help “drive increased collaboration” and the sharing of best practices across teams and brands.
Wolverine’s Boston office housed the company’s Sperry, Saucony and Keds brands since it acquired them in 2012, as well as its Kids Group. Wolverine divested its Keds business late 2022 and Sperry in January.
But this new Innovation Hub is another step in the company’s aggressive turnaround strategy. And the moves in its strategy are slowly paying off. On the company’s third quarter 2024 earnings call last week, Hufnagel praised Merrell’s “return to growth” and the stabilization of sales at Saucony and Sweaty Betty.
Wolverine Worldwide ended Q3 with revenue of $440.2 million, down 16.6 percent from $527.7 million the same time last year. Ongoing total revenue in Q3 – which excludes the impact of sold assets – was $440.1 million, a decrease of 7.0 percent from $473.3 million the prior year period.
Looking ahead, the company raised its guidance slightly and now expects total revenue from its ongoing business to be approximately $1.730 billion to $1.745 billion for the full fiscal year 2024.
