John Popham Photograph courtesy of Aextrex Worldwide
Aetrex Worldwide, Teaneck, New Jersey has announced that John Popham and Michel Racine have joined Aetrex Canada as market managers. According to Aetrex, Popham and Racine are both “veterans of the footwear industry with over 30 years experience and former owners of their own sales agencies.” Both will be responsible for building the Aetrex brand and driving sales of the company’s footwear and footcare product lines, with Popham covering the central Canadian market and Racine covering eastern Canada.
“With the launch of Aetrex Canada, we are building an excellent, experienced sales force to hit the ground running,” said Richard Schnaittacher, Aetrex vice president of international sales. “We have high hopes that the brand can make significant inroads into the retail market while continuing to solidify our medical base.”
Michel Racine Photograph courtesy of Aextrex Worldwide
As director of national sales/national account manager for the Kodiak Group Inc., Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Popham led a sales force of ten and developed programs for national accounts such as Sears, Walmart, Zellers, and Canadian Tire. For 11 years, he also ran his own agency, John Popham Sales Agency, representing brands including Florsheim, Savage/Brown, Saucony and Kodiak and achieved over 18 percent growth with Freeds, Windsor, Canada’s largest men’s clothier.
Racine was formerly the regional sales manager for central and eastern Canada with Rockport Canada, responsible for the sales management of the Rockport Brand in Feet First, Globo, Browns Shoes, Forzani, FX Lasalle, JP Fortin, and Bo Pieds. Racine also managed his own agency, Agences Michel Racine, which represented brands such as Teva, Spalding, And 1, Dansko, and Russell Athletic for the province of Québec and the Ottawa Valley. He was also the vice president of sales for Converse All-Star Canada.
