LEXINGTON, S.C. (BRAIN) — Hawley and Lambert, which have shared ownership for about five years, are taking the next step to becoming one global team by combining the leadership teams of both companies.
Steve Hawley stepped down as president of Hawley, effective Thursday, and will now be solely focused on long-term strategy and business development with CEO Ed Barrett. Sylvain Caya will become president of Hawley-Lambert and oversee all day-to-day operations. Caya has been president of Lambert for nine years. In addition, a new position will be added in the U.S. for a "VP commercial," who will lead the company's commercial functions and build upon the company's strategic brands.
The group will keep operating under the name of Hawley in the U.S. and Lambert in Canada. However, on the back end it will operate as one entity: Hawley-Lambert.
"For 31 years I've been an owner operator and worked 'in' the business," Steve Hawley said in a statement released Thursday. "It's time for me, as an owner, to work 'on' the business. By turning over all day-to-day operations to others, I will now be able to focus on high-level projects and strategies for a marketplace that is changing very quickly. We recognize that the largest growth opportunity for Hawley-Lambert is in the U.S. market. As an owner, I want to maximize this growth opportunity, and now is absolutely the right time to make this change. For the past five years, our partnership with Lambert has allowed us to become a national distributor by opening a West Coast warehouse in Nevada. In addition, it has enabled us to partner with many new exclusive brands, such as Look, Catlike, Northwave and Tacx. Sylvain has great leadership skills and business experience. I am confident that he will guide the Hawley team forward in the U.S. market and continue to build upon our success. Not only is this a great opportunity for the business and our vendors, but it's also a great opportunity for the careers of our staff and the benefits for their families."
Barrett said, "Steve has done a fabulous job building Hawley into the company as it is today. Our mantra is 'Think globally, act locally.' In an industry in which the big players are getting bigger, we need to think globally when we talk to our vendors, support their marketing strategies, and implement new technologies. At the same time, we need to keep acting locally to provide great service to our 5,000 retailers and build strong relationships with them through our 60 account managers and sales representatives."
Caya said, "One of our goals as a combined entity is to share best practices and focus on technology to make it easier to do business with us. One example is our new website, which will be launched in January. This will make our product search much easier — with improved navigation and better product content. We will also be going live with a new ERP (enterprise resource planning software) in January, which will merge all inventory, finance and operations onto one common platform. Another goal is to keep being a strong brand builder by leveraging our sales and marketing efforts in both countries, providing a turnkey solution to grow our partner brands in North America. We will also open our fourth (distribution center) in spring 2016 to provide next-day delivery to our Northeast retailers. All of these initiatives are a testament to our commitment to our retailers and to continue the striving for excellence culture Steve has fostered."
