Wolverine Worldwide Unveils Renovated Global Headquarters in West Michigan

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Wolverine Worldwide Unveils Renovated Global Headquarters in West Michigan

2025-05-21 00:59 Last Updated At：01:11

ROCKFORD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2025--

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) today announced a major renovation of its global headquarters located in Rockford, Michigan. This investment is part of the Company’s continued efforts to modernize facilities, centralize core business operations, and attract and retain top-tier talent by creating new spaces for innovation and collaboration – along with advancing team and culture development.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250520217315/en/

“Our company is driven by a new vision to Make. Every Day. Better. – for our team, customers, consumers, shareholders, and community,” said Chris Hufnagel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wolverine Worldwide. “We believe that to create amazing, thoughtful, trend-right, innovative products and experiences that improve our consumers’ lives and drive growth, we must provide our team members with great environments to work and win together.”

The centerpiece of the project is a top-to-bottom renovation of 40,000 square feet of space to house the Company’s two biggest brands, Merrell and Saucony, the latter of which the Company recently relocated to Rockford from Boston.

Originally constructed in 1963, this space served as a footwear factory for several decades before transitioning to dedicated office space in the 1990s. Now known as The Factory, it features exposed structures and concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, 224 individual workstations, dedicated product and marketing rooms for each brand, 31 collaboration and meeting rooms, a café, and state-of-art technology for product design, marketing, and global collaboration.

“We’re proud to have been founded 142 years ago here in West Michigan, and to still call Rockford our hometown today,” continued Hufnagel. “ The Factory further demonstrates our commitment to both growing our business and deepening our roots in this community.”

The project is supported by a $1-million Michigan Business Development Program grant in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Center (MEDC) and The Right Place, Inc.

“Today’s investment announcement by Wolverine Worldwide further advances the state’s outdoor recreation industry heritage. This announcement further proves Team Michigan’s successful execution of the ‘Make it in Michigan’ economic development strategy focusing on People, Places and Projects,” said Matt McCauley, SVP Regional Development at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “The company could have chosen to expand anywhere in the country, or world for that matter, and we remain thankful for their commitment to Michigan and the talented workforce in West Michigan.”

The Factory is the latest improvement to Wolverine Worldwide’s 300,000-square-foot global headquarters. Additional on-site amenities for team members include:

For video and images of the space, visit: bit.ly/thefactorywww

ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE

Founded in 1883, Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) is one of the world’s leading designers, marketers, and licensors of branded casual footwear and apparel, performance outdoor and athletic footwear and apparel, kids’ footwear, industrial work boots and apparel, and uniform footwear. The Company’s portfolio includes Merrell®, Saucony®, Sweaty Betty®, Hush Puppies™, Wolverine®, Chaco®, Bates®, HYTEST®, and Stride Rite®. Wolverine Worldwide is also the global footwear licensee of the popular brands Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. Based in Rockford, Michigan, for more than 140 years, the Company's products are carried by leading retailers in the U.S. and globally in approximately 170 countries and territories. For additional information, please visit our website, www.wolverineworldwide.com.

Video captures Minneapolis immigration arrest in a city on edge after shooting of Renee Good

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.