Dive Brief:

• Patrik Frisk, coalition president of VF Corp.'s outdoor unit, which includes Timberland, the North Face, Vans, Reef, Jansport, Smartwook, and other brands, is stepping down Friday to become CEO of footwear retailer Aldo Group Inc. Stewart Whitney, a 14-year Timberland veteran, took over Frisk's previous role as Timberland’s brand president earlier this month.

• Frisk, who was at VF Corp. for 10 years, is credited with bringing back the Timberland brand after VF Corp.’s acquisition of it in 2011. Timberland is the largest acquisition so far for the company, which specializes in retail brands.

• Aldo Group Inc., known for its affordable, fashionable footwear, was founded in 1972 in Montreal, where it is still based and where Frisk will be moving to take the job.

Dive Insight:

Timberland is a venerable New England outdoor- apparel retailer much like L.L. Bean, but the brand has long enjoyed an urban following. Patrik Frisk took advantage of that when he revamped much of Timberland’s designs to widen its appeal and its reach further. Frisk is known as a visionary, who likes to talk about success through “simplication” a way of figuring out and focusing on the essentials of one’s goals. Now he takes that vision to Aldo.