END Hires Industry Footwear Mavens

PORTLAND, Ore. — May 8, 2007 — END, a new sustainability company focused on designing outside gear, started by award-winning footwear designer Andrew Estey and business partner Ben Finklea, hired two industry footwear mavens — Jay Peery to direct world-wide sales and Jeff Wammer to mastermind the product development for each design.
“Together Jay and Jeff bring more than 30 years of outside gear and footwear experience working with leading industry brands,” said Andrew Estey, co-founder and creative director of END. “Both of these guys are true outdoor enthusiasts who are anxious to challenge the technology arms race in shoe manufacturing today to create a brand that will make sustainability a performance advantage.”

Jay Peery brings intimate knowledge of the outdoor industry having worked for Columbia Sportswear/Montrail as National Sales Manager. At Columbia, Jay managed the integration of the Montrail brand that enabled Columbia to increase their connection to the core outdoor and running specialty markets. Peery has also represented emerging outdoor brands as an independent sales rep where he provided input into the product development process.

Jeff Wammer will work alongside Estey to refine the design process and institute quality assurance techniques to adhere to END’s standards for sustainability. Prior to END, Jeff, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, held positions at Columbia and adidas-Saloman where he worked in several capacities as a development manager building strong multicultural teams, shaping new organizations and installing effective quality systems for Asia.

END’s fall product line is available August 1, 2008 in select stores.

About END (environmentally neutral design)
Founded in 2007, END is an outside gear company building a new culture – not another corporation – through an evolutionary design approach. Founded by award-winning shoe designer Andrew Estey and business partner Ben Finklea, END questions every component of design to minimize the environmental footprint of its products. For more information about END, visit the Web site at http://www.endoutdoor.com.


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