Dive Brief:
- Reebok is expanding under soon-to-be owner Authentic Brands Group. The brand conglomerate on Monday announced a partnership between Reebok and JD Group that will see the athletics brand in more than 2,850 stores.
- The deal covers all of JD’s banners in North America and Europe, including Finish Line, JD, DTLR, Shoe Palace, Size, Sprinter and SportZone. Reebok will also be sold through those companies’ e-commerce sites, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
- An expanded assortment of Reebok product will roll out across JD’s banners beginning in fall next year. The brand will continue to be sold at its current wholesale partners and through its DTC channels.
Dive Insight:
Reebok has not fully moved under its new owner yet — the deal is projected to close in the first quarter of 2022 — but Authentic Brands Group is already plotting the company’s path forward.
At the end of November, Authentic Brands placed Reebok’s U.S. operations in the hands of Sparc, the joint venture between Authentic Brands and Simon Property Group. Sparc was also put in place as the global hub for the Reebok Design Group. The Reebok Design Group is responsible for product design, development and other tasks, as well as preserving Reebok’s brand ethos across the world.
At the same time, the company named operating partners in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and Israel. Last week, Authentic Brands announced another operating partner for Reebok in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The expansion “helps further ABG’s global Reebok strategy of assembling a network of core operating partners around the world,” Authentic Brands said in a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
The partnership with JD likewise expands Reebok’s presence globally by putting Reebok in nearly 3,000 stores in addition to all of JD’s various e-commerce sites.
“JD’s expanded support of Reebok as well as their new commitment to carrying the brand in their stores in North America and Europe speaks volumes to the brand’s cultural influence,” Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and CEO of Authentic Brands, said in a statement. “This partnership solidifies Reebok’s position with an important global retailer.”
Adidas in February announced it was selling Reebok, after months of rumors on the subject, and in August Authentic Brands came away as the winner, with a $2.5 billion bid for the company. The deal came after years of Reebok’s decline under Adidas, and an even longer downward trajectory from the brand’s heyday in the ’80s. Since the sale was announced, Reebok has also been building out a new creative direction to reposition the brand.
