VF Corp CEO on Vans turnaround: Customers still inspired by skate

VF Corporation (VFC) — the parent company of footwear brands Vans and Timberland and North Face outdoor apparel — shares are beginning to calm down on Thursday after the company's third quarter earnings results sent the stock soaring earlier in the week. Coming off the company's Investor Day, VF Corp CEO and president Bracken Darrell sits down with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi to discuss the changes and cost-cutting strategies employed in his first year as CEO. "We took a lot of cost out, $300 million of cost out through the middle of this year and it'll show up all the way through the end of this fiscal year," Darrell says. "And then... we really changed the operating model. So we went to a model that was being run in Europe, which is one that I was comfortable with from my past life, and it was kind of a test model for the US. So now we brought it in here. So those combination of changes plus a lot of leadership changes have put us in very different position than we were in a year and a half ago." The former Logitech International (LOGI) chief executive took over as VF Corp CEO in June 2023, Darrell himself noting that the "similarities overwhelm the differences" for both companies. "I'm not here just for a turnaround. That's the same too. I think this can be an incredible growth company over time, but first we gotta get to term," he tells Sozzi. "That's just the first of many steps to get to being a growth company." Darrell specifically says Van is in its own turnaround with new brand leadership at the helm: "A small percentage of people who buy Van really do skateboard, but the vast majority are inspired by the idea or the mindset of Vans, that Off The Wall or Warped mindset that you grew up with or you kind of felt like an outsider. But it's kind of cool to be an outsider. So that's the real growth here is way beyond skate, but we continue to make amazing skate shoes." Darrell goes on to speak about the company's brick and mortar strategy for its brands ahead of the holiday shopping season, what tariffs on China could mean for business, and his own upbringing and family experiences that led him to where he is today. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.