Birkenstock appoints Tiffany Wu as managing director for Greater China

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 9, 2023

German footwear brand Birkenstock has named Tiffany Wu as the newly appointed managing director for Greater China. 

In this role, Wu, who assumed her role on November 1, will lead the Greater China business area, encompassing mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with a primary focus on advancing brand equity and driving sales in the region. She will report directly to Klaus Baumann, the chief sales officer of the Birkenstock Group.

The company currently operates an e-commerce business in China, which will now be bolstered by an expanding retail presence and a wholesale network with local partners.

"Greater China is the strongest growth driver for us in the APMA region alongside India and Japan. Unlike many other brands, we haven't faced consumer headwinds in the last months, quite the opposite. And in view of the latest economic outlook, we expect this positive trend to continue or accelerate,” said Oliver Reichert, Director of Birkenstock Holding plc and chief executive officer of the Birkenstock Group.

“This is supported by the business in our own digital channels which has developed extremely positively in China this year. With the additional capacity that we can allocate since the go-live of our new plant in Pasewalk in September 2023, we now have the bandwidth to satisfy Chinese consumers' appetite for our products. In the past three years, we have started to implement our engineered distribution playbook in the region. We are now ready to take the next step in our growth journey. It's the perfect moment for Tiffany Wu to join the team. Welcome aboard!”

Wu is a well-rounded leader with over 18 years of experience in the premium fashion and luxury industry. She started her career at the PR agency Ogilvy. In 2009, she co-founded a leather goods designer brand called Heirloom, which she successfully sold a decade later.

From 2019 onwards, Wu took the helm at Fung Retailing-Asia Retail Company (ARC), assisting foreign companies in navigating the Chinese market. In 2021, she assumed the role of managing the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau) for Blue Nile, the world's largest online diamond sales company.

"Birkenstock's growth potential is enormous in this market. In fact, the current timing is very favorable for our brand, because since Covid, the Chinese have become more health conscious, and young people want to protect the environment. Our products meet these expectations perfectly,” said Wu.

“As we ramp up our production capacity, we will unlock the large growth potential of China and the whole APMA region, which has generated significant latent demand that we have been unable to fulfill in recent years given more limited supply. Our targeted growth strategies will build upon our growing popularity in the region's underdeveloped markets, including China, where our brand is nascent."