Black Box Distribution CEO Frank Messmann is leaving the company to become Executive Vice President of James Perse, a fashion label inspired by the West Coast lifestyle.
His last day at Black Box is today.
I ran into Frank last night at the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, and he filled me in on the details behind the change.
Frank served as CEO of Black Box for 4-½ year, working closely with founder and President Jamie Thomas, a professional skateboarder and entrepreneur. Black Box owns Fallen footwear, several skate hardgoods brands including Zero, has the license for New Balance Numeric, and distributes Insight apparel in the U.S.
The difficult skate market the past several years, especially for skate footwear, has meant reduced sales for Black Box. The reality is the company is the size where it does not need a CEO and a President, Frank said.
Over the past four years, Frank has hired a solid middle management team “that can run operations perfectly. Jamie has always run marketing and creative, and now with the operations management team in place, I essentially made myself redundant.”
Frank was also ready for a new challenge on a larger playing field. James Perse, based in Los Angeles, has 300 employees and operates 28 stores.
Frank has known James Perse for 20 years. Frank used to make hats for James at a hat company owned by Steve Rocco, the founder of World Industries.
