Canadian buyer emerges for Sanuk
Footwear group Deckers has confirmed that the sale of its Sanuk brand is now complete. Deckers announced its intention to sell the outdoor footwear brand a year ago.
On releasing its results for the first quarter of its current fiscal year at the end of July, Deckers said that, after the close of the quarter on June 30, it had entered into an agreement to sell Sanuk to an unnamed buyer.
The sale went ahead on August 15, with Canadian clothing and footwear brand Lolë Brands emerging as the buyer.
Sanuk (which means ‘fun’ in Thai) was founded in southern California in 1997 by entrepreneur Jeff Kelley. It developed a reputation for producing original sports and adventure styles of sandals and shoes. Mr Kelley sold Sanuk to Deckers in 2011.
Sales for the brand for the quarter ending June 30 were $6.9 million, a fall of 28.4% year on year.
Montreal-based Lolë said that, under new ownership, Sanuk would benefit from “renewed investment to build on its core strengths”.
It announced that brand director, Katie Pruitt would be staying on and would become general manager of Sanuk and a vice-president of the group. She said she saw exciting opportunities to elevate the brand’s product offering, disrupt the marketplace and build “brand love”.
