Designer Brands Acquires Topo Athletic, Accelerating Owned Brands in Leading Shoe Sales Category
Hottest Portfolio Addition Reinforces Productive Brand-Building Strategy
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Designer Brand names Inc. (NYSE: DBI) (the “Corporation” and “Designer Manufacturers”), just one of the world’s largest designers, producers and stores of footwear and equipment, these days declared the acquisition of Topo Athletic (“Topo”). The transaction expands the Firm’s attain into the important efficiency athletic and out of doors footwear classes. Topo’s founder and CEO, Tony Article, will remain with the Business as CEO of Topo, and report to Bill Jordan, president of Designer Brand names.
Topo, a footwear group disrupter identified for its unique, award-profitable in shape and feel, brings Designer Brands’ Owned Brand enterprise quickly into the high quality athletic class. Topo footwear, designed for managing, strolling, climbing and overall consolation, is presently identified in their group across the U.S. and internationally. Led by founder Put up, Topo is poised for meaningful expansion with leading-tier solution, standing and distribution now in location. Prior to setting up Topo in 2012, Article was senior vice president of products and marketing and advertising at The Rockport Organization, then served as CEO of Vibram Usa, running the two the U.S. sole enterprise and launching Vibram FiveFingers. This wide practical experience and DNA for innovation makes Topo this kind of a solid suit for Designer Brands’ personal ground breaking method to expansion. Topo more diversifies Designer Brands’ broader portfolio of Owned Models, which involves Vince Camuto, Jessica Simpson, Crown Vintage, Combine No. 6, Blessed Brand name and Kelly & Katie, comprising six of the major 50 vogue makes at Designer Manufacturers and will now also develop in the hyper-essential athletic and athleisure room with Topo and the Firm’s earlier announced LeTigre acquisition.
“Topo represents an additional fascinating progress possibility for Designer Makes and more propels us to our purpose of doubling gross sales of our Owned Brands by 2026,” reported Jordan. “Tony Post’s visionary management reminds us why the greatest athletic shoes should produce a far better experience, so our prospects come to be passionate about our brand names. Designer Makes continues to manage its future with far more than 30 million consumers in its loyalty courses, much more than 700 details of distribution and 3 on the web platforms that total far more than $1 billion in sales. Subsequent our most new calendar year-over-12 months quarterly income boost of 25{a0ae49ae04129c4068d784f4a35ae39a7b56de88307d03cceed9a41caec42547} in Owned Brands and 33{a0ae49ae04129c4068d784f4a35ae39a7b56de88307d03cceed9a41caec42547} in our Immediate-to-Consumer channels, we are confident Topo will continue on to strengthen our Owned Brands portfolio and aid extend our achieve about the earth.”
“Topo’s concentrate on aiding people accomplish balanced way of life goals aligns properly with Designer Brands’ mission to inspire self-expression,” claimed Write-up. “We uncovered synergy with their management crew from our to start with conference. They have an understanding of our manufacturer mission, they help our tactic and aim all-around specialty retail and they’re thrilled about our increasing world-wide footprint. Almost nothing genuinely adjustments in our technique, distribution course or the management team. Designer Manufacturers provides a deep established of resources that will enable Topo go on to expand, innovate and deliver a far better encounter for our customers for yrs to occur.”
The Consello Team served as monetary advisor, and Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP served as legal advisor to Designer Manufacturers. Consensus served as money advisor, and Goodwin Procter served as legal advisor to Topo.
About Designer Manufacturers
Designer Makes is 1 of the world’s major designers, producers and shops of the most recognizable footwear makes and extras, transforming and defining the footwear industry by inspiring self-expression across each side of its company. By its portfolio of environment-class owned manufacturers, led by the marketplace-setting Vince Camuto model, Designer Models provides on-trend footwear and components through its robust immediate-to-client omni-channel infrastructure, showcasing a billion-greenback electronic commerce business and practically 650 shops throughout the US and Canada. Its retailing functions beneath the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and The Shoe Company banners produce latest, in-line footwear and accessories from most of the biggest nationwide makes in the marketplace and maintain primary market share positions in important products categories throughout Women’s, Men’s and Kid’s in the US and Canada. Designer Manufacturers also distributes its owned manufacturers as a result of find wholesale interactions whilst leveraging its style and design and sourcing expertise to create non-public label product for nationwide stores. Designer Makes Inc. is also fully commited to being a change maker in the entire world, having actions forward to progress range, equity, and inclusion in the footwear marketplace and supporting our global neighborhood and the health and fitness of our earth by means of donating far more than six million pairs of footwear to the international non-earnings Soles4Souls. Additional details can be observed at www.designerbrands.com.
About Topo Athletic
Topo Athletic produces footwear that honors the condition and biomechanics of the human foot. Increasing over the industry’s gimmicks and trends, Topo Athletic’s items inspire instinctive and natural motion to assist produce a far better jogging and physical fitness expertise. Headquartered in Framingham, MA, Topo was started in 2012 by Tony Post – an market veteran with about 35 many years of shoemaking, marketing and aggressive functioning practical experience. For far more information, remember to visit www.topoathletic.com and comply with on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @topoathletic.
Safe Harbor Assertion less than the Non-public Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Sure statements in this push release may perhaps represent forward-hunting statements and are created pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can establish these forward-seeking statements by the use of forward-searching terms these as “outlook,” “could,” “thinks,” “expects,” “opportunity,” “proceeds,” “could,” “will,” “need to,” “would,” “seeks,” “around,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or the damaging version of those people words or other equivalent words. These statements are dependent on the Company’s current views and anticipations and include known and mysterious challenges, uncertainties, and other components that might bring about precise final results, performance, or achievements to be materially various from any upcoming success, effectiveness, or achievements expressed or implied by the ahead-wanting statements. These variables include, but are not limited to: our skill to correctly integrate obtained corporations, these as Topo challenges and uncertainties connected to the ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, any long term COVID-19 resurgence, and any other adverse general public wellness developments hazards that new inflationary pressures, which include better freight prices, could have on our effects of functions and client desire based mostly on pricing actions and operating actions taken to mitigate the affect of inflation unsure general economic conditions, which includes inflation and provide chain pressures, domestic and world political and social situations and the opportunity influence of geopolitical turmoil or conflict, and the connected impacts to consumer discretionary investing our capacity to execute on our extended-expression strategic strategies our skill to anticipate and react to manner traits, purchaser tastes, and shifting client anticipations our potential to keep sturdy relationships with our distributors, producers, licensors, and retailer consumers dangers connected to losses or disruptions linked with our distribution systems, including our distribution facilities and success middle and stores, whether or not as a end result of the COVID-19 pandemic, reliance on 3rd-celebration vendors, or normally our reliance on our loyalty plans and marketing to push visitors, revenue, and purchaser loyalty dangers relevant to cyber security threats and privateness or info protection breaches or the possible loss or disruption of our facts systems our potential to guard our popularity and to keep the brands we license our competitiveness with respect to type, price, model availability, and purchaser service hazards relevant to our international functions, which includes worldwide trade, our reliance on foreign sources for merchandise, exposure to political, financial, operational, and compliance and other threats, and fluctuations in international forex exchange rates our ability to comply with privacy legislation and rules, as properly as other legal obligations risks linked with weather transform and other company responsibility issues and uncertainties related to upcoming legislation, regulatory reform, plan changes, or interpretive guidance on present laws. Risks and other elements that could bring about our genuine outcomes to vary materially from our forward-searching statements are explained in the Company’s Yearly Report on Type 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 29, 2022 and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All ahead-wanting statements communicate only as of the time when designed. Other than as may well be expected by legislation, the Business undertakes no obligation to update or revise the ahead-wanting statements involved in this push release to replicate any upcoming events or circumstances.
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