Outdoor Voices Names Ashley Merrill Chairwoman As Drexler Exits
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Outdoor Voices has named Ashley Merrill as chairwoman of its board of directors, replacing Millard “Mickey” Drexler. Merrill’s appointment is in conjunction with a new round of funding from her “investment platform,” NaHCO3, the company said in a statement today.
Financial details of the funding round were not disclosed.
Drexler is head of his investment firm, Drexler Ventures, and formerly served as the chief executive officer and chairman of J.Crew Group. Prior to that, he was ceo of Gap Inc.
Merrill is the founder and ceo of high-end sleepwear brand Lunya, which was founded in 2014. Outdoor Voices said in a statement that as chairwoman, Merrill will work closely with the company’s executive team “at the board level” and also noted that a formal search is underway to identify a “permanent ceo with proven experience scaling and growing retail companies and who embodies Outdoor Voices’ values and brand.”
Ty Haney, founder of Outdoor Voices, had served as ceo. Haney gave birth to a daughter in November of last year, and stepped down from the ceo role earlier this year.
Merrill said she’s been a long-time customer “and fan of Outdoor Voices’ brand and mission to ‘Get the World Moving.'” Merrill expressed excitement to be joining the company and said she looks forward “to bringing my experiences at Lunya to help build a healthy, sustainable business that drives value for our team, customers, and community.”
Phillip Niels, who serves on the board of directors of the brand and is also a partner at Oakwell Capital, warmly welcomed Merrill to the company and said in a statement that the brand is “dedicated to our pursuit of freeing fitness from performance by making daily recreation fun and accessible to all, and we continue to make positive progress in growing and improving the business in a challenging retail environment.”
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