Hanesbrands Inc. has chosen a Walmart merchandising executive as its next chief executive.
Hanesbrands’ board of directors announced Tuesday that Stephen Bratspies, 52, will become the company’s third chief executive since spinning out of Sara Lee Corp. in September 2006.
Bratspies takes over as chief executive Aug. 3.
Bratspies will succeed Gerald Evans Jr., who announced March 11 his plans to retire on Jan. 2 after a 37-year career at the basic apparel manufacturer. When Evans retires, he will have served as the manufacturer’s chief executive for more than four years.
Hanesbrands is the lone publicly traded corporation with its headquarters based in Winston-Salem, as well as its only Fortune 500 company. The manufacturer has about 2,500 employees in Forsyth County.
Bratspies has more than 25 years of retail, digital and consumer product leadership experience.
Most recently, he served as chief merchandising officer at Walmart Inc., where he managed $330 billion in sales, drove a major merchandising transformation initiative, and accelerated comp-store sales and market share gains.
Bratspies’ other roles at Walmart include executive vice president of general merchandise, executive vice president of food, and senior vice president of marketing. He also worked at Specialty Brands and PepsiCo, Inc.’s Frito-Lay North America division.
“Steve is an experienced global leader, has a strong vision for the future of consumer products businesses, and has an extensive track record of success in senior management roles across a number of critical business disciplines,» Ronald Nelson, Hanesbrands’ chief executive, said in a statement.
«He has tackled complex business challenges and consistently delivered superior results across a multitude of consumer product categories.
«We are confident that Steve is the ideal CEO to lead Hanes forward as we focus on our strong portfolio of consumer brands across the globe, rapid online growth and strong cash flow model.»
Bratspies said he was attracted by the combination of Hanesbrands’ «rich history, including developing power brands, driving category-leading product innovation, building deep consumer relationships … and world-class company-owned supply chain.»
The company said in a regulatory filing that Bratspies will have a base annual salary of $1.1 million — the same as Evans — although it will be pro-rated for fiscal 2020.
Bratspies will be eligible for annual incentives worth up to 150% of his annual base salary and a target long-term incentive program worth up to $6.75 million.
Evans has signed a transition consulting agreement with the company.
The agreement is for one year in which Evans will be paid $91,667 a month to provide “transition and integration services and will consult with a successor on matters that arose while Evans was chief executive. The $1.1 million for fiscal 2021 equals his annual salary for each of 2017 through 2019.
Evans’ decision comes nearly a year after his predecessor, Richard Noll, stepped down as non-executive chairman.
The company credited Evans for guiding Hanesbrands’ strategy that’s been focused on cash generation, supply chain and geographic diversification, expansion into new retail avenues, organic sales growth and innovation leveraging brand building.
Hanesbrands expanded its international retail presence during Evans’ turn as chief executive, in particular the doubling of global Champion annual brand sales to nearly $2 billion.
Evans also has overseen an increase of consumer-directed sales to the point it represents 25% of total revenue.
Stifel analyst Jim Duffy said in March that Evans’ retirement plans may be viewed as a positive by some investors.
“Investors have been frustrated with share performance in recent years, and new direction may be welcome by some,” Duffy said.
The 52-week share price range is $6.96 to $17.69. It opened trading Tuesday at $12.92.
Before the impact of the new coronavirus began to occur in the stock market in mid-March, Hanesbrands’ share price was at $14.70.
By comparison, it was at $25.88 when Evans took over as chief executive.
“For the successor, we expect an external candidate with leadership qualities and expertise in alignment with the needs of Hanesbrands’ business model — consumer oriented, marketing across multiple brands, global supply chain, and product focused,” Duffy said.
