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New VF Corp. CEO talks plans to improve business, including Vans turnaround

Bracken Darrell, CEO, Logitech, on Centre Stage during day two of RISE 2019 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong.
Harry Murphy | Sportsfile | Getty Images
  • After a disappointing quarterly report, new VF Corp. CEO Bracken Darrell told CNBC's Jim Cramer how he plans to help the company revamp its business.
  • VF Corp. owns a number of notable brands, including Vans, The North Face and Timberland.

After VF Corp.'s Monday quarterly report saw the company withdraw its full-year revenue and profit forecasts, new CEO Bracken Darrell laid out his plans to improve business in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer.

The company, which owns brands including Vans, The North Face and Timberland, saw its sales decline 11% in the U.S during its second quarter, with Vans sales alone down 21%. In after-hours trading Monday, the company's shares were down over 8%.

Darrell, who joined VF Corp. in July, said he's no stranger to helping companies reinvigorate business, citing his 10-year run as the CEO of Logitech. Earlier in his career, Darrell also led the charge to help Old Spice turn its brand around.

"I see four things that we need to do," Darrell said. "And then we'll have a bigger strategy that will follow."

Darrell first emphasized the company's aim to make its U.S. business as popular as it is abroad. VF Corp.'s foreign sales grew 10% over the last quarter. He also said the company will lower its cost base, reinvesting into innovation and brand building, and then lower its debt by delevering.

He emphasized VF Corp.'s intention to "deliver the Vans turnaround." He said the sneaker brand first catered to skaters and a more alternative crowd but lost sight of that demographic as it gained widespread popularity.

"Inside all of us there's a little bit of an underdog, a little bit of an outsider. Not everybody but almost everybody. And Vans really catered to that through the skater community," he said. "I think we got so big that we, we ended up kind of catering to other people that were just purely into fashion — which was not bad — but we kind of lost our way on really making sure, always appealing to that slightly mischievous, fun side that we all have inside."

Correction: VF Corp.'s shares started falling in after-hours trading. An earlier version misstated the closing trend.

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