Academy Sports & Outdoors Names New President
Academy Sports and Outdoors is promoting Sam J. Johnson to the role of president, following the resignation of of Michael P. Mullican, who is stepping down to pursue “personal and professional opportunities.”
Johnson, who previously served as executive vice president of Retail Operations, will have continued oversight of retail operations and real estate & construction, as well as new responsibility for logistics & supply chain. He will continue to report to the retailer’s CEO Steve Lawrence.
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Johnson has served as EVP of Retail Operations and a key member of the executive leadership team since joining Academy in April 2017. Prior to joining the company, he spent seven years with hhgregg, 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 hhgregg, Inc., he spent more than 20 years in various leadership roles with Sears Holdings Corporation, including vice president of Small Stores.
In connection with Johnson's promotion to president, Eric Friederich has been promoted to senior vice president of Retail Operations. Friederich has been with Academy since November 2016, most recently as regional vice president 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.
"I am pleased to congratulate Sam and Eric on their well-deserved promotions,” said Lawrenece. “Sam is a trusted and integral partner to our leadership team. I am confident that his deep retail experience, proven leadership and broad knowledge of our business make him very well-suited to help lead us through our current long-range strategy. Eric also brings a strong wealth of store operations experience and exceptional leadership that we will leverage to continue driving store growth and productivity."