THE PAYOFF

Lake Forest-based Sole Technology Inc. finally landed the big fish to match its aggressive growth plans.

Sole Technology Chief

Senizergues wanted someone who would fit into the company's culture and also had experience in the big leagues of the shoe business to help steer Sole Technology's growth.

"I needed more operational muscle to keep on growing and follow my vision and our long-term plan," Senizergues said. "I also wanted to focus more of my time on public relations, marketing and product development."

Sole Technology worked with Korn/Ferry International in Irvine on the hire.

The company counts four shoe brands geared toward skaters and snowboarders: Etnies skateboarding shoe, eS (an athletic shoe for skateboard shops), Emerica (a counter-culture shoe also for skateboard stores) and 32 (a snowboarding boot sold in action sport stores alongside Etnies).

Migaki is a shoe veteran. He spent the past 10 years working in various positions at Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike, including president of Nike Japan's shoe and apparel business. Most recently, Migaki was general manager of Nike's U.S. equipment division, which includes accessories.

"Being able to take what we have and grow it is what really excited me (about Sole Technology)," said Migaki, who recently moved to Orange County from Oregon. "The potential is there."

Sole Technology plans to tap Migaki's experience to develop its U.S. operations and target the company's "biggest untapped opportunity: the Asian market," Senizergues said.

"He's going to help me take care of the operations side," he said.

That includes increasing brand focus and fine-tuning Sole Technology's software and warehouse shipping system, making it "faster, better and P more efficient," Senizergues said.

Sole Technology has about 500,000 pairs of shoes at its OC warehouse at any given time.

Migaki said he can help Sole Technology fine-tune its processes as it looks to expand from a midsize company to a large one.

Fifteen-year-old Sole Technology's sales have grown from $8 million in 1994 to $100 million in 2002 (the company wouldn't disclose 2003 revenue but said it was up from 2002).

"Sole has grown quickly," Migaki said. "Sometimes when you do that not all the processes are in place for further growth."

"I believe my skills are a good complement to Pierre's creative skills and visionary look of the industry and the company," he said.

Sole Technology, one of the hottest names in the action sports industry, has been on a tear for the past several years. It started out with one skateboarding shoe, Etnies, and now has the three others, as well as apparel and accessories.

Migaki said Sole Technology is similar to Nike in its sporting origin and emphasis on product design, innovation and development.

A number of new workers joined Sole Technology when it moved its biomechanics research and testing center, Sole Technology Institute, to the company's Lake Forest headquarters last year.

Sole Technology bought a 38,000-square-foot building across from its main campus to house the lab, which includes a 10,000-square-foot ramp, quarter pipe and other skateboarding areas.

The company, which recruited another former Nike worker to help run the lab, is a pioneer in setting up an in-house lab for studying the biomechanics-the study of body movement-of action sports.

Last June, the shoe designer also opened a new 80,000-square-foot warehouse to take care of its bulging inventory needs.

The move brought the company's total space in Lake Forest to more than 200,000 square feet. The company added about 40 OC workers last year, bringing its count to 220.

Senizergues said the company should have enough space for a while, but he's "always looking."

"The action sports consumer is going to be growing over time," Migaki said. "This is a legitimate part of teen culture."