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Dive Brief:
Dive Insight:
Steve Madden acquired the privately held, digitally native Greats brand in 2019, and at the time said the sneaker brand had net sales of approximately $13 million in the 12 months ended June 30 of that year.
“Greats pioneered the direct-to-consumer model in footwear, and continues to delight its customers with high-quality, beautiful fashion sneakers,” Dustin Jones, CEO and founder of UCG, said in Monday’s release. “We have admired the brand for a long time, and the clear synergies with our existing apparel brands, along with its valuable customer base presents an excellent opportunity to leverage our operational expertise to drive further scale.”
Also on Monday, UCG announced a strategic investment in Böhme, a Utah-based womenswear retailer founded in 2006 by sisters Vivien and Fernanda Böhme. Böhme currently operates 14 stores in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Arizona, plus an e-commerce platform, per Monday’s release.
With the acquisition of Greats and Böhme, UCG said in the release that its shared services platform, UCG Hub, is now providing “operational support, leadership and strategy” to four growing DTC e-commerce brands with a combined footprint of more than 30 retail stores and more than 200 wholesale partners.
“We have known Dustin and his team for a number of years, and are very confident that Greats will find a strong strategic fit with the fast-growing portfolio of brands at UCG,” Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Steve Madden, said in the release.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Lara Ewen, Khareem Sudlow
