CEO of the Month, USA: Michael J. Mardy, Tumi

Tumi is a leading, global, premium lifestyle brand whose products offer superior quality, durability, functionality and innovative design.

The Company offers a comprehensive line of travel and business products and accessories in multiple categories, building on its strong heritage of producing high-end performance travel goods and business cases.

Michael has served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President since July 2003, and outlines his responsibilities and what he enjoys most about the role.

“My main responsibilities include financial, administrative, and risk management operations for the company. I’m also responsible for leading the information technology and logistics functions for the Company, along with being the principle interface with the investment community and our public shareholders. Daily tasks could range from assessing organizational performance against both the annual budget and the company’s long-term strategy, to speaking with current and potential investors about the Tumi story.

“I’m always learning new things in the ever changing retail landscape, and interacting with different people across the organization which has kept this job both challenging and rewarding.”

The firm has seen significant growth under Michael’s financial leadership, particularly over the last year, during which the firm has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 20% in net sales and 23% in operating income from 2010 through 2014. Through the first half of 2015, Tumi has increased sales by approximately 7% despite a challenging retail environment both domestically and internationally.

Michael attributes the brand’s success to their dedication to executing their core growth strategies of expanding the store base, expanding wholesale distribution globally, increasing brand awareness, broadening the appeal of our products through new product introductions, improving store operations, and expanding their e-commerce presence. Michael also believes that part of the growth is due to the firm’s emphasis on international expansion as well as the firm’s constant drive towards innovation.

“While a majority of the company’s sales our generated within North America, we have a growing international presence. The brand is sold in over 310 stores from New York to Paris to London and Tokyo, as well as in the world’s top department, specialty and travel retail stores in over 75 countries. We continually work on improving our brand awareness, especially internationally, and we hope to drive increased awareness through our marketing initiatives, such as our Global Citizens campaign, along with key relationships with strong local distributors in important international markets.”

“We also place a strong emphasis on technical and design innovation. Our products are created to achieve superior levels of design, performance and style. We are committed to innovation and design quality, and foster this commitment in many ways, including strategic investments in cutting edge tools, dies and materials. Our ongoing focus on improving the form and function of our products has enabled us to design innovative products that anticipate and address consumer needs and design trends on both functional and stylistic levels. We regularly update our collections and collaborate with various designers on limited edition collections to provide consumers with new and distinctive product offerings. In the past several years, we have received numerous industry awards for innovation and design excellence.”

Ultimately Michael was keen to emphasise that the future was looking bright for Tumi, but that the firm would not waver from its commitment to providing customer satisfaction through quality products.

“We believe that we have a long runway of growth ahead of us, as long as we continue to execute on our long-term growth strategies. Global travel only continues to increase each year, and we’ll look to capitalize on this trend from our leading presence within the travel and business world, in addition to strengthening our image as an overall lifestyle brand.”

“However, despite our rapid growth Tumi is still committed to our principals. At the core, Tumi remains intently focused on creating innovative products with exceptional quality and design to remain the leader in the global premium lifestyle market. We couple this with our world class customer service to drive exceptional consumer loyalty. Once you become a Tumi consumer, we not only want you to remain a satisfied consumer forever, but also to recommend the brand to others, which is exhibited by our high net promoter score. We are also focused on creating value for all of our stakeholders, treating all with equanimity and respect.”

Company: Tumi Holdings, Inc.

Name: Michael J. Mardy

Web Address: www.tumi.com

Address: 1001 Durham Avenue,

South Plainfield, NJ, 07080