Academy Sports promotes company veteran to merchandising head

Academy Sports + Outdoors Inc. has named a company veteran as its new chief merchandising officer.

The specialty sporting goods retailer is promoting Matt McCabe to executive VP and chief merchandising officer, effective Sunday, June 25.  He will succeed Steve Lawrence, who took the reins as CEO from Ken Hicks at the beginning of June. (Hicks has transitioned to the role of executive chairman).  McCabe will report directly to Lawrence.

McCabe has served as Academy's senior VP, general merchandise manager, footwear since September 2017. He joined the company in December 2016 as VP, divisional merchandise manager, athletic and licensed apparel. In his new role, McCabe will oversee merchandising, planning & allocation, visual merchandising, and private label product development & sourcing.

Prior to joining Academy, McCabe served as Vice President at Golfsmith International, where he led the apparel, footwear, and soft consumables buying and private brand businesses. He has also held various merchant leadership roles at The Bon Ton Department Stores, Bachrach, Sears & Roebuck Co., and Mark Shale. McCabe earned his bachelor of science from Miami University.

"I am proud to announce the promotion of Matt McCabe to chief merchandising Ooficer," said Steve Lawrence, Academy Sports + Outdoors CEO. "He has been instrumental in growing the Footwear category during his tenure as GMM with the addition of several new brands such as Hey Dude and Birkenstock, along with an improved shopping experience both in-store and online.

“The combination of his broad industry experience coupled with his knowledge of Academy should make his transition to chief merchandising officer seamless,” said Lawrence. “I'm excited to partner with Matt and the entire merchant organization as we continue to deliver on our mission to provide fun for all by strengthening our merchandising through meaningful assortment, powerful brands, and compelling value."

"I'm humbled and excited for the opportunity to lead our merchant organization into the future," said McCabe. "Under Steve's leadership, we established a clear market position with strong and localized assortments, value-based differentiation, and refined our merchandising strategies and processes, and I am confident that we can continue to accelerate our growth and take market share in key categories as we help customers have fun out there."

[Read more: Academy Sports + Outdoors enters new state]

Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas and headquartered in Katy, Tex., Academy has grown to 269 stores across 18 states.