$7.58. That was Under Armour’s closing stock price the day I met with Stephanie Linnartz, the company’s new CEO. A 25-year veteran of Marriott, Linnartz stepped into the role at the end of February of this year. She became the company’s third CEO appointed in four years. It is perhaps a surprisingly unenviable role, as she’s tasked with turning around a company that missed the rise of athleisure, bricked the endorsement deal of a generation with Stephen Curry by creating a decade of lackluster shoes, still contends with founder Kevin Plank as a primary shareholder who has caused waves of scandals while supporting Trump, and boasts a share price down 85% since its high in 2015.
Linnartz and I met up for a rapid-fire interview inside the company’s 29,000-square-foot flagship store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue—one that, during my time of visit, welcomed customers to its first floor women’s department with a kiosk dedicated to The Rock. Afterward, I’d visit a 300-square-foot Hoka store a few blocks away that seemed to squeeze as many people inside.
With inflation’s ongoing pinch and debts rising for much of Middle America, Under Armour’s bread-and-butter customers, like shoppers at Kohl’s, are simply buying less. But while Linnartz certainly demonstrates an adopted loyalty to the UA brand, and frequently references UA’s own comeback story in the making, she’s a realist who sees the label’s shortcomings and is trying to address them—particularly when it comes to design.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
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