In a self-proclaimed transition year, Wolverine Worldwide is beginning to witness proof points that it hopes signal an ongoing turnaround for the Saucony, Merrell and Sweaty Betty parent. These developments in Q1, where the company exceeded revenue guidance, included higher gross margins, less promotion in the direct-to-consumer channel, a sharply lower inventory level, declining debt, and an improvement in wholesale replenishment orders. Chris Hufnagel, now WWW’s president and CEO for nine months, called Q1 a relatively low bar, and said there is lots of work for to still do.

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