Luke Reese |Founder and Managing Director
Luke Reese
Founder and Managing Director
Luke Reese is a senior operating executive with more than 25 years of experience successfully managing high-end consumer goods businesses. In every position he has held, Luke has delivered dramatic profitability improvements and strong market share gains by improving product margins, leveraging grassroots marketing strategies and leading high-energy sales efforts.
Before founding Winona Capital, Luke was a senior manager at Amer Sports (Wilson, Atomic, Suunto). His positions included Group Head, Managing Director of Amer Sports (where his naturally caffeinated energy created a $17 million dollar profit turnaround on $110 million of sales) and General Manager of the Wilson Sporting Goods Golf business (where he bested his prior effort and delivered a $20 million profit turnaround). While at Amer Sports, he ran businesses in the following industries: tennis, golf, ski, action sports, outdoor, lifestyle, apparel, and footwear. Earlier in his career, he practiced corporate and finance law as an attorney with Latham & Watkins.
A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (cum laude) and DePauw University (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Luke is a U.S. Army (Military Intelligence) veteran and a published author. He speaks German and French fluently and Italian conversationally. Luke is a raving Michigan Wolverines and Cubs fan and an avid skier, (but the best looking part of his skiing are his KJUS outfits).
Luke serves as the Chairman of CIRCA, Johnny’s Fine Foods, KJUS, Diono and is on the board of Rodd & Gunn. He was formerly Chairman of Peter Millar and Dragon Alliance.