Surviving and Thriving Through an Economic Downturn with Tom Park (139)

Our guest on this episode took the consumer electronics brand, Belkin, from $400 million to one billion dollars in annual revenue in only four years.

As the president of Kenmore Craftsman Diehard for Sears Holding he transformed these iconic American brands by launching Kenmore and Diehard exclusively on Amazon with Kenmore becoming the first major appliance to be sold on Amazon.

He is the former president of the Disney Stores Worldwide…and so much more!

As someone who has seen just a few economic cycles while running major brands, I could not think of a better guide for us all than my friend, Tom Park, who offers specific and sage advice, especially for middle and lower middle market companies, as we continue to move towards increasingly uncertain times. 

We also talk about consumer product trends, managing expenses, focusing on the customer experience, building infrastructure to get ahead of the curve, employee retention, creating a culture of accountability to achieve budget, the importance of market share analysis, leading well and so much more.

You’re going to want to listen to this episode twice as Tom shares so many nuggets from his vast experience, all of which he continues to use today as Managing Director of Portage Point, where they offer interim management, performance improvement and board services to stakeholders in periods of distress, underperformance and transition. 

About Tom Park

Tom Park joined Portage Point in December 2020 and currently serves as a Managing Director offering interim management, performance improvement and board services to stakeholders in periods of distress, underperformance and transition. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Howard’s, a large independent appliance and consumer electronics retailer

Prior to joining Portage Point, Tom was CEO of Incipio, a consumer products company, until he left in 2019. Tom served as President of the Kenmore Craftsman Diehard for Sears Holdings. Tom was hired in 2015 to transform these iconic American brands to maximize their value by externalizing the brands after nearly 100 years of being exclusively sold at Sears. Under Tom’s leadership, the Kenmore and Diehard brands were launched exclusively on Amazon. Kenmore is the first major appliance brand to be sold on Amazon and included delivery and installation services performed by Sears. Tom was instrumental in negotiating the sale of The Craftsman Brand in 2017 to Stanley Black & Decker for $900m

Prior to joining Sears, Tom held several executive positions at Belkin International, a global leader in mobile accessories, wireless networking products and IOT smart products. Positions within Belkin included President Linksys Networking Division, President of the Americas, Chief Operating Officer and CFO. During his tenure of a dozen years, Belkin saw significant growth, more than doubling the business to $1B. Prior to Belkin, Tom spent a decade with the Walt Disney Company where he was President of the Disney Stores Worldwide. In addition, he held executive positions with Disney Consumer Products. Tom was Controller for the $3B consumer products business and Controller for Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and development group for Disney theme parks

Tom graduated from Villanova University with a BS in Accounting in 1979 and began his career with Unisys holding several positions in finance and accounting for over 12 years. Tom serves on several advisory boards, including the Villanova School of Business. Tom lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Lisa Adubato Park, and is the proud father of four children and one granddaughter.

Connect with Tom Park

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-park-545717b/

Website: https://portagepointpartners.com/team/tom-park/

Email: [email protected]

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