L.A. Gear Hires 3 Top Reebok ExecutivesMoving...

L.A. Gear Hires 3 Top Reebok Executives

Moving quickly to put his mark on troubled L.A. Gear, Mark Goldston, the company’s new president, Tuesday named three new senior executives--all from rival Reebok International.

The moves underscore Goldston’s drive to split the athletic shoe maker’s marketing efforts into two separate divisions: one for performance athletic shoes and the other for fashion and lifestyle footwear.

Goldston himself was hired away from Reebok two months ago to pump up the sagging fortunes and performance of Marina del Rey-based L.A. Gear, whose once-torrid business has been slumping for the last year. The new appointments take effect immediately.

Christopher Walsh, 41, was named senior vice president of operations and will have responsibility for the development and production of all lines of footwear. Walsh had served as Reebok’s vice president of production for three years. He has also worked at Toddler University, a children’s shoe manufacturer, and at Nike, the world’s No. 1 athletic shoe maker.

Gordie Nye, 36, becomes L.A. Gear’s new vice president of marketing for athletic footwear. At Reebok, Nye served as senior director of fitness marketing and had responsibility for marketing the company’s new Step athletic shoes and aerobic equipment as well as men’s fitness shoes.

Robert Apatoff, 33, formerly vice president of national promotions and sports marketing at Reebok, joins L.A. Gear as vice president of marketing services. In this capacity, Apatoff will be responsible for the company’s national and retail promotions and sports marketing. Before joining Reebok, Apatoff worked at Anheuser Busch for seven years, where he headed the promotions department that developed the Bud Bowl and Budweiser 3-on-3 Challenge.