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David Kahan has a long history in the sporting goods, athletic apparel, and footwear industry, having started in a part-time sales position in Macys while in College. After graduating, Kahan went through the Macy's Executive Training Program and eventually became Macy's first-ever Athletic Footwear Buyer. He likes to say he “went from working 15 hours a week in the store to 15 hours a DAY.”
He is credited with launching the Macy’s Athletic Club, which became the largest department store retailer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories in the US. The success of this concept was featured in numerous magazines, including the New York Times. He was hired by Nike and became one of the youngest managers in the company. He was part of implementing a strategic accounts management process that became the industry standard.
Kahan eventually became Head of Reebok North America, managing a $1.6b business, and was part of the leadership team when the company was acquired by the Adidas Group in 2006. Following this acquisition, Kahan was part of the integration team that helped combine the two organizations. He was given leadership responsibility for the Rockport brand, which introduced him to the “brown shoe” world.
Kahan assumed responsibility in 2013 for the Birkenstock brand in the USA. Kahan says, “We are the stewards of a brand that is now over 240 years old and dates back to a small village in Germany. In a world where fast fashion has become so widely accepted, we are the polar opposite - we remain steadfast in our commitment to quality, handmade engineering, and the values that are consistent with a fine German-manufactured brand. We never compromise our brand values and we believe consumers are drawn to us because they share an emotional connection with our amazing brand and our products which give them healthy benefits.”
Kahan is now the Chief Executive Officer of Birkenstock Americas and is largely credited with helping to engineer the unprecedented breakthrough Birkenstock has experienced over the past years. Kahan serves on the boards of the FDRA (the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America), the Two Ten Foundation, the charitable organization for the footwear industry, and FFaNY, the Fashion Footwear organization of New York.
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