Fortune Brands flies to Nogales amid leadership turmoil and activist pressure

Fortune Brands flew from Chicago Executive Airport to Nogales International Airport on June 16, a three-and-a-half-hour hop aboard its Embraer Legacy 500, N520FB. The destination, a small airport on the Arizona-Mexico border, is not a typical corporate hub — but it sits within driving distance of the company's Therma-Tru and Larson manufacturing operations in Nogales, Sonora, just across the line.

The trip arrives the same week interim CEO David Barry, installed after Nicholas Fink's abrupt exit in March, told analysts the company is targeting $70 million in annualized cost savings and trimmed its full-year sales outlook to a low-single-digit decline, per a Finexus earnings report. The moves come as activist investor Ed Garden, who criticized Fink as “lacking leadership and industry experience” per Fast Company, joins the board under a cooperation agreement announced in March.

The flight to Nogales follows a pattern of visits to operational sites: earlier this month, the company's aircraft touched down near Chattanooga, Tennessee — home to its Fiberon decking plant — and near Atlanta, where its Security segment is headquartered. With a CEO search still underway and margins under pressure, a factory visit suggests hands-on oversight, not a vacation.