Sole Tech COO leaving

Sole Technology’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Migaki is leaving the company for family reasons, the company said today.

CEO Pierre André Senizergues told me in an interview this morning that Paul is going to Indiana to help care for his father.

Pierre is sorry to see him go, and had hoped Paul would retire with Sole Tech, Pierre said.

“I hire for the long term,” he said.

Pierre hired Paul from Nike more than six years ago after an exhaustive search, which included about 100 interviews with potential COO candidates.

“I am very careful who I bring into our team,” Pierre said.

Currently, there are no plans to replace Paul. Pierre will take on additional duties as will Sole Tech’s executive team.

“I have confidence (my executive team) is pretty strong,” he said.

Pierre said he has been very involved all along with day-to-day operations so it will not be a big stretch. He will likely do less public speaking, however, and focus even more on the internal business of the company.

“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “I’ve been living and breathing the company for a long time – I think about it 24 hours a day. The company has been led by me for a long time, and will be led by me in the future.”

Meanwhile, Pierre said he is excited about what is happening with Sole Tech brands, including the medals won by Etnies athletes at the X Games, Brett Simpson winning the U.S. Open, Etnies sponsorship of the L.A. Skate Film Festival, the Emerica “Stay Gold” video and the 400 premieres planned for it, the success of ThirtyTwo as a new snow season is poised to begin, the És Game of Skate World Championships planned for Houston, and the excitement around apparel brand, Altamont.