Rich Conti
BERKELEY, Calif.— ICU Eyewear, Inc. has announced that Rich Conti has joined the company as chief executive officer and member of the board of directors. The company also announced that Kirk Hobbs, most recently the CEO of Lifefactory, has joined ICU as chief operating officer. Former ICU CEO Rob Robillard will remain on the company’s board of directors going forward.

“We are extremely excited to welcome both Rich and Kirk to the ICU team,” said Scott Potter, ICU’s chairman of the board and managing partner at San Francisco Equity Partners, private equity firm that owns ICU. “Rich’s talent and expertise in building successful consumer businesses, as well as his clear growth vision for ICU, will be invaluable assets for the company. We look forward to Rich’s leadership as ICU seeks to help retailers build their eyewear business in the readers, sun and specialty sport segments.”

Conti is a deeply experienced consumer products veteran who brings strong sales, marketing and executive leadership credentials to ICU. Conti began his career with Procter & Gamble and then spent over 20 years with Clorox, where his tenure culminated as Group VP responsible for half of Clorox’s operating units. He has also held CEO roles in private-equity backed businesses, and most recently held the position of president and COO for SC Johnson North America. In conjunction with joining ICU Eyewear, Conti will also join the Advisory Board of San Francisco Equity Partners.

“This is a great opportunity with a company that has tremendous momentum and brand presence in a fast growing market category,” said Conti.