John Robinson
About
John Robinson is from Rogers, Arkansas, United States. John works in the following industries: "Sporting Goods". John is currently Chief Executive Officer at DV8 Offroad, located in Riverside, California, United States. John also works as Chief Executive Officer at Addictive Desert Designs, a job John has held since Nov 2020. Another title John currently holds is Executive Chairman at IQ Brands. In John's previous role as a President / Chief Executive Officer at KEE Action Sports, John worked in Bentonville, AR until Jan 2016. Prior to joining KEE Action Sports, John was a Vice President / General Manager, JT Sports, LLC at Jarden Corporation and held the position of Vice President / General Manager, JT Sports, LLC at Bentonville, Arkansas. Prior to that, John was a Vice President / General Manager, K2 Licensed Products, St Louis, MO and JT Sports, LLC at Jarden Corporation, based in Bentonville, AR from Mar 2009 to Feb 2010. John started working as Vice President, Operations, JT Sports, LLC at K2 Inc. in Hong Kong in Dec 2006. From Jan 2004 to Jan 2006, John was Vice President, Operations, K2 Licensed Products, Inc. at K2 Sports, based in San Diego, CA. Prior to that, John was a General Manager / Vice President, K2 Global Sourcing at K2 Sports, based in Hong Kong from Jan 2001 to Jan 2004. John started working as General Manager, Korea & China, K2 Sports Corporation at K2 Sports in Pusan, Korea in Jan 2000.
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John Robinson's current jobs
John Robinson's past jobs
• Recruited by private equity firm Angelo Gordon at the time KEE Action Sports acquired JT Sports. Managed $100+ million business with 300 employees, 7 warehouses, 2 manufacturing sites, and offices in the US, Canada, UK, and Asia. • Led turnaround of company in a severely declining industry; developed high-margin products, reduced costs, optimized resources, and maintained revenue levels. • Successfully restructured the leadership team and merged the corporate cultures of 3 acquired companies that made up KEE Actions sports. Turned KEE’s distributor model into a branded approach focusing on innovation. • Negotiated acquisition of 2 companies: Smart Parts (purchased IP, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual royalty costs) and Kingman (purchased niche product in an earn out deal requiring zero money up front). • Cut operating expenses by several million dollars and increased GP more than 3 percentage points over 4 years through systems integrations, continuous improvement, sales programs, freight processes, reductions in staffing, rationalization of product portfolio, and allocation of future spend to higher margin product/brand initiatives. • Generated enough cash to finance operations and pay down multimillion-dollar debt while staying current with vendors. • Successfully sold KEE Action Sports to GI Sportz (Montreal), maximizing value for Angelo Gordon and the shareholders; retained in a consulting role to transition the business, align/consolidate product offerings, and set up retail operations.
• Promoted by President of Jarden Team Sports following their acquisition of K2, to restructure and integrate the JT Sports paintball division and the Licensed Products division into the new Jarden Team Sports platform. • Delivered $1.1 million in annual savings by closing California office and consolidating/integrating all functions into the Arkansas location. Saved additional $1.5 million by consolidating manufacturing and distribution from both divisions to Missouri location. • Successfully managed complex integration of legacy platforms from both companies into enterprise systems. • Slashed JT inventories by 50%+ in 18 months by creating a more robust process of analyzing forecast vs. POS data, reducing vendor lead times. Implemented programs targeted at accelerating sales of slow-moving product. • Drove re-branding initiative; refreshed logo/packaging and implemented high-end product development across categories. • Turned FY2007 loss into 5% EBITDA in FY2008 and nearly 10% EBITDA in domestic business for FY2009.
• Promoted by the President of Jarden Team Sports to manage a 2nd company within Jarden Team Sports platform while maintaining responsibilities of VP/GM of JT Sports. Added sales, marketing, licensing, and creative responsibilities to existing areas within manufacturing/distribution. Drove EBITDA contribution from 4% to 10% in 1 year. • Implemented reorganization strategy to drive cost reductions; decreased inventory 30% in 1st year by leveraging forecasting/historical data to reduce SKUs and focus on seasonal approach to sports licensing. • Tasked by Jarden Corp. CEO to position JT Sports for sale; negotiated deal and closed the transaction within 25 days.
• Selected by executive leadership to lead transformation of organization in an industry facing acute decline after multiple years of explosive growth of up to 20% per year. Hired, trained, supervised, and evaluated 200 employees. • Removed costs by restructuring manufacturing, distribution, purchasing, inventory, warehouse, and other aspects of the business. • Saved $800K in freight costs by instituting comprehensive cost-management initiative that included best practices, fuel surcharge reduction, and partnering with another Jarden Team Sports company to create economies of scale.
• Recruited by K2 Inc. President to lead turnaround of struggling $35 million acquired company that manufactured and marketed licensed sports and entertainment products. • Drove improvements across the organization in processes, costing, operations, and productivity, taking the organizations to 10% EBITDA in 2 years, delivering the company's strongest improvement in earnings. • Managed 60-member team in house ball stamping, inflation and custom packaging operations. • Assisted in delivering the corporation’s largest improvement in earnings for 2004. • Expanded capacity for product development and sourcing by establishing profitable relationships with factories in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
• Selected by senior management to launch and direct division that centralized vendor relations for all outside suppliers for $200 million in FOB business. Identified/selected vendors and managed contracting, quality, compliance, and reporting. • Established operations including merchandising, pricing, and logistics in Hong Kong and China; opened sales offices in Thailand and the Philippines; directed 70 employees across 7 countries.
• Recruited to manage all facets of division specializing in winter-season sporting goods, in-line skates, skateboard shoes, and apparel, including operations, engineering, R&D, product development, quality, pricing, sourcing, and purchasing. • Achieved 7% YOY reduction in FOB costs ($4 million) by establishing BOM costing process; changed pricing model, sourced and negotiated favorable agreements with manufacturers, and partnered with US operations on shipping processes.