West Marine has named Aaron Carpenter as chief marketing officer. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry and will start this month.
Previously, Carpenter was vice president of global marketing for seven years with The North Face as part of the executive team that reportedly more than doubled the brand’s revenue from $1 billion to $2.3 billion in six years. He led the launch of thenorthface.com and the company had more than $200 million in online sales. Carpenter also led the design and implementation of the brand’s first customer relationship management/loyalty system.
“We are excited to welcome Aaron to the West Marine team,” Ken Seipel, CEO of West Marine, said in a statement. “Aaron understands the boating enthusiast lifestyle and will help us develop and executive marketing strategies to ensure the West Marine brand is strong and that our mission to outfit, educate and inspire boaters comes to life for our customers.”
Carpenter most recently co-founded TideSmart West, a San Francisco-based digital and experiential marketing agency that supports lifestyle brands such as Starbucks, The North Face and Clif Bar & Company. He also helped start HubNami, a startup focused on social media management in the U.S. and Japan. From 1998 to 2008, he was vice president of marketing, ecommerce and licensing with Levi Strauss & Co. Carpenter holds a B.Z. in Russian and international relations and an MBA in international marketing from the University of California, Davis.
