Salewa NA Appoints Industry Veteran, Brian Mecham, General Manager

Boulder, CO (May 12, 2016) – SALEWA North America, which operates the DYNAFIT, SALEWA, WILD COUNTRY, and POMOCA brands in the United States and Canada, has appointed Brian Mecham as new General Manager. The company is a subsidiary of the Oberalp Group S.P.A. based in Bolzano, Italy and was established in 2006.

Brian Mecham comes from Icebreaker, where he’s served as the General Manager for the U.S. market since September 2014 and was responsible for wholesale, retail, e-commerce, marketing, operations and finance. He managed the omni-channel sales organization to maximize growth opportunities and create a seamless customer experience across all touch points of the brand. Prior to Icebreaker, Brian worked for Black Diamond Equipment as Vice President of Sales overseeing North American Wholesale, Direct to Consumer, and International Distributors, and at Patagonia, where he first served as a Sales Representative and then as the Western Regional Sales Manager. “Today’s business environment has many opportunities and challenges and Brian’s experience will complement the existing team in Boulder to tackle the next chapter for SALEWA NA,” the Oberalp Group’s European leadership commented.

Brian has emphasized, “I have tremendous respect for the Oberalp brands, their strong presence in Europe and the quality of their products, but also understand the competitive landscape in North America.” Brian continued, “I’m excited to further develop a NA commercial plan for all of the Oberalp brands. With strategic planning and reinforcing wholesale partnerships, we have significant growth potential for all four brands (Salewa, Dynafit, Wild Country and Pomoca) in both U.S. and Canada. “

Brian Mecham reports to Claes Broqvist, who joined Oberalp in January 2016 as Regional General Manager. Previously, Broqvist spent six years working as sales director for Swiss company ODLO, and before that, he spent seven years as sales and marketing manager for HAGLÖFS, after having served as sales director at NIKE where he oversaw the emerging markets division. In addition to overseeing North America, Broqvist oversees business development in Asia and the U.K., and is responsible for all brands’ export transactions. “With Brian’s expertise, SALEWA North America will further strengthen relationships with our dealers, guide associations, local outdoor clubs, backcountry skiing, climbing and mountaineering communities. We at Oberalp always want to be considered easy to work with and inclusive brands. Brian is a great addition to the team as we continue to strive to be really nice people with whom to both do business and adventure in the mountains,” said Broqvist.

Brian Mecham takes over from Christopher Sword who was hired in 2006 by the Oberalp Group to establish and run its subsidiary. “We want to thank Chris for his amazing level of passion and dedication and wish him all the best for the future. He built a profitable business and the strong team he helped build is a testament to his dedication and hard work,” said Massimo Baratto, Oberalp Group’s CEO.

About Salewa North America

Boulder Colorado based Salewa North America manages the USA/Canada sales, marketing, operations distribution, and customer service functions for mountaineering and lifestyle brand SALEWA (based in Bolzano, Italy), the world’s only full-line, full-time backcountry brand DYNAFIT (based in Munich, Germany), climbing skin brand POMOCA (based in Aubonne, Switzerland), and rock climbing brand WILD COUNTRY (based in Tideswell, U.K.). For more information on each brand, visit: salewa.us | dynafit.us | pomoca.com | wildcountry.us.

For additional information, contact:
Cassie Abel
206-819-7611
cassie@whitecloudcommunication.com