Puma

Puma is in mid-reset. Arthur Hoeld, a 26-year Adidas veteran, became CEO on July 1, 2025, replacing Arne Freundt over what the company described as “differing views on strategy execution.” Within four months, Hoeld announced a turnaround plan that includes 1,400 corporate layoffs (about 20% of the global corporate workforce), a narrowed product range, and reduced wholesale exposure to mass merchants in North America. The German athletic brand, founded in 1948 in Herzogenaurach by Rudolf Dassler, trades on Xetra under PUM and reported 2024 revenue of approximately $9.1 billion, ranking fourth among global sportswear brands behind Nike, Adidas, and Lululemon.

The reset has three operational priorities. First, cleaning up wholesale distribution, with sharply reduced exposure to mass merchants in North America that diluted brand equity. Second, narrowing the product range with fewer new launches concentrated in three core categories: running, football, and training. Third, shifting more sales through direct-to-consumer channels (the brand’s website and owned stores) to capture margin and reduce promotional dependency. Wholesale revenue declined 15.4% in constant currency in Q3 2025, reflecting deliberate inventory takebacks and channel pruning. The Pinault family’s investment vehicle Artémis holds approximately 29% of Puma, the same family that controls Kering. Puma designates 2025 as a reset year, 2026 as a transition year, and targets a return to growth in 2027.

Puma operates a global retail network spanning owned mainline stores, factory outlets, and shop-in-shops, complemented by wholesale distribution that historically reached thousands of doors. Under Hoeld’s reset, the directly operated store network is being repositioned as the brand-experience anchor, with full-price selling and reduced promotion. For mall operators, the implication is that Puma is moving away from being a high-promotion mainline tenant toward fewer, better-staged flagship and concept formats. Pricing pressure on mall mainline stores should ease as discount volume drops over 2026, but volume contraction may also affect store count decisions in lower-tier centers.