Levi Shuffles Executives, Adds 4 Positions

Levi Strauss & Co. announced top management changes and four new positions to help the company concentrate more on worldwide marketing to meet growing competition. The privately held San Francisco-based company named Gordon D. Shank, 50, a 24-year company veteran who served as president of Levi Strauss, the Americas, to the new position of chief marketing officer. John Ermatinger, 44, vice president of operations and sourcing, will succeed Shank. The company named three other executives to the new position of vice president of brand development, in each of Levi’s divisions: Joe Middleton, 42, in Europe; Rob Holloway, 38, in the Americas; and Martin Rippon, 39, in Asia Pacific. In a related move, the company is sending Robert Hanson, 35, currently vice president of marketing for the Dockers brand, to Europe to take over brand development when Middleton becomes division president next year.