David Kappele: Business Development | Board Member FGI Toronto | Retail | Business of Fashion in Greater Toronto Area, ON

Michi Designs is a high-end Canadian-made, women-specific activewear brand. As a member of the senior leadership team, my primary responsibilities were overseeing worldwide distribution, new business development, and brand management.

Cotton Candy is one of the premier providers of corporate branded merchandise in North America. They generate tangible marketing solutions for a client roster that covers virtually every business category, including Fortune 500 companies and multinational organizations, along with some of the most recognizable and respected brands on the continent—reporting to the CEO.

Supporting the growth of start-ups through the vast MTU network by advising on go-to-market strategy, competitive research, sales, and business development. Advising on the challenges associated with Made in Canada production. Worked with a wide variety of brands representing fashion, digital innovation, and emerging trends.

Red Canoe is a 20-year-old Toronto-based apparel business and retailer. They were founded within the aviation industry by licensing vintage logos of iconic North American organizations. These include Boeing, the US Air Force, NASA, Cessna Aircraft, Piper Aircraft, and Lockheed Martin. Tourism, independent retailers, museums. Reporting to the owner / CEO.

Tilley Endurables is a private Canadian company operating in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. Established both the Canadian and U.S. wholesale businesses, as well as assumed a lead role in the overall marketing of the brand. Overall sales were approximately $26M generated through a retailer network of 3,200 retailers in North America with an additional six hundred in the UK in addition to online and physical retail stores. In 2015, Tilley was acquired by a private equity firm. Reporting to the CEO / Board of Directors. Provided strategic direction and industry insight as a member of the senior leadership team with a focus on wholesale branding and business development in North America / the United Kingdom.

Led the marketing team of twelve in developing and coordinating all initiatives for retail, web and wholesale divisions. • Led the vendor setup for Amazon.ca (also set up Amazon.com in 2013). Developed an exclusive Amazon Prime trading partner for the U.S. market to better manage Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) pricing and distribution challenges with Amazon. • Hired independent sales agencies for all provinces across Canada. Transitioned the in-house sales teams into customer service roles, which provided superior utilization of time and resources for the agents and in-house teams as support for the front-line sales teams. • Developed the go-to-market strategy utilizing NPD data, coordinating production, design, merchandising and finance teams into one solidified approach. This approach was rolled out to the UK and other international partners.

Led double-digit growth in North America by developing a dynamically effective wholesale sales team. Key accomplishments include: • Established, trained, led and motivated an international sales team composed of both company staff and independent agents. • Responsible for strengthening profitable relations with existing wholesale accounts, senior procurement officials and developing new “partnerships” with high-sales potential accounts. • Established European trade business which consisted of over six hundred retailers in the UK. and developed international distributorships in Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. • Established and led the ‘hat design team’, a creative resource translating market trends into product-specific designs. Developed over fifteen new styles including a patented rain hat along with the top-selling Airflo line. • Increased product distribution network particularly in the high-priority U.S. markets by 25% through developing and implementing proactive sales coverage plans, better communications, and disciplined action assessments; strengthened coordination of internal departments in support of sales initiatives. • Established or enhanced “partnerships” with major North American retail accounts including The Forzani Group, Orvis, Bass Pro, Cabelas, LL Bean, Augusta National Golf Club (Masters), Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), and Amazon. This resulted in distribution in big box retail outside the typical model of independent retail. • Re-engineered process improvements in order to accommodate these large volume accounts, including establishing EDI compatibility with vendors. • Led recruiting and training three full-time sales professionals in Canada and independent sales agents in the United States. • Managed the intellectual property portfolio patents, trademarks, and overseas registrations. Provided direction through attorney liaison, prevailing in numerous infringement cases.