Academy Sports Names Sam Johnson President, Michael Mullican to Leave Company

Stephen Garner
·3 min read

Academy Sports and Outdoors announced on Monday that it has promoted Sam Johnson to president, marking the latest top executive shift to occur at the retailer this year.

Johnson succeeds Michael Mullican, who recently informed the Katy, Texas-based company that he is stepping down to pursue other personal and professional opportunities. Mullican will serve the company in an advisory capacity through a brief transition period beginning today, the company said.

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Mullican, who was just promoted to president in June, joined Academy in 2017 as EVP and general counsel. He then served as EVP and CFO since Jan. 2018 until his recent promotion this summer.

In a statement on Monday, Mullican said that it had been an “exciting” and “rewarding” journey at Academy. “I have genuinely enjoyed my time here and am grateful for the experience and opportunities Academy has provided me,” Mullican said. “I want to thank all the amazing people across Academy for their support and contributions through the years. I am very proud of the many accomplishments we’ve achieved together.”

As for Johnson, he will continue to report to CEO Steve Lawrence and will be responsible for the continued oversight of retail operations as well as real estate and construction, and logistics and supply chain.

Prior to his promotion, Johnson has served as EVP of retail operations and has been a key member of the executive leadership team since joining Academy in April 2017. During his tenure at Academy, he has developed a strong partnership with the company’s logistics and supply chain organization, positioning him well to take on this added responsibility.

Before joining the company, Johnson spent seven years with HH Gregg, Inc., where he most recently served as chief retail officer and led various functions including store operations, customer relations, commercial sales, real estate and visual merchandising. Prior to HH Gregg, Inc., he spent more than 20 years in various leadership roles with Sears Holdings Corporation, including VP of small stores.

“I am honored to take on my new role as Academy’s next president,” Johnson said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with Steve, our Board, and the entire Academy team to continue advancing our long-term growth strategy through new store openings and the increased productivity of existing stores and distribution centers, while providing fun for all our customers.”

In connection with Johnson’s promotion to president, Eric Friederich has been promoted to SVP of retail operations. Friederich has been with Academy since November 2016, most recently as RVP of east region stores and previously as senior director of communication and merchandise execution and as a district manager. He has more than 25 years of retail business experience and previously held leadership positions at JCPenney and Target.

This is the latest executive move for the retailer this year. In July, Academy promoted Carl Ford to the role of EVP and CFO. In June, Matt McCabe was promoted to the role of EVP and chief merchandising officer. He replaced Academy’s former chief merchant Steve Lawrence, who stepped into the CEO role at the start of June as part of a planned succession.

In August, Academy delivered a 6.2 percent decline in net sales to $1.58 billion in the second quarter, down from $1.69 billion the same time last year. Net income in the quarter also took a 16.8 percent hit to $157.1 million, down from $188.8 million last year.

Despite these decreases, the company surpassed analysts’ expectations of an adjusted earnings per share of $2.09, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99.

Lawrence told analysts on the company’s quarterly earnings call at the time that the team is working hard on “thoughtfully managing” through its short-term challenges and remains focused on delivering against its long-range plan objectives.

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