Australian fashion business Brand Collective has become Reebok’s official local distributor just six months after Accent Group locked in an exclusive agreement to distribute the US-based footwear brand in Australia and New Zealand for a 10-year term. The fashion and footwear retailer plans to open a handful of “small flagship” Reebok stores, invest in the brand’s online presence and boost its distribution through retail partners, such as Rebel, to capitalise on what CEO Eric Morris says
ys is a “huge opportunity”.
“Reebok is a brand that has gone through its ups and downs over the years, but it certainly still has resonance for the consumer,” Morris told Inside Retail. “We believe there’s a huge opportunity in the market.”
Morris expressed interest in acquiring the local distribution rights for Reebok when Authentic Brands bought the brand from Adidas last year, but lost out to Accent Group.
“It was very disappointing. We really wanted the brand, but we let it go,” he said. “And then a few weeks ago, we got a call from Jamie [Salter, chairman of Authentic Brands] to see if we were still interested.”
Brand Collective officially took over the brand from Accent Group on 1 May.
The move comes on the heels of the merger between PAS Group and Brand Collective, which has resulted in Brand Collective becoming the third largest fashion retailer in Australia with 27 fashion and footwear brands in its portfolio, including Black Pepper, Review, Hush Puppies, Clarks and Superdry, as well as 15 character licences.
Big opportunity in basketball
Beyond growing Reebok’s physical and online presence in Australia and New Zealand, Brand Collective aims to increase consumer demand for products outside of the brand’s ‘classic’ collection. Basketball is one category where Morris sees a lot of room for growth.
“Having the classics business is fine, but I’d love to revive the basketball business,” he said, noting that Reebok has a long history of involvement with the sport.
“They’ve had some iconic players on their books over the years, [such as] Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson,” he said.
Brand Collective also happens to have close ties with the owner of Australia’s National Basketball League, Larry Kestelman. The Melbourne entrepreneur founded LK Group, the private equity company that owns Brand Collective.
“We’ve got the connections obviously with Larry owning the NBL,” Morris said.
Whether Reebok sponsors the NBL or some of its players remains to be seen, but there will be a significant investment in marketing the brand’s basketball offering, he said.
Another area where Morris sees room for growth is in kids’ shoes. Brand Collective also owns the children’s footwear chain Shoes & Sox, which could present partnership opportunities.
While Reebok is new to Brand Collective, it’s well-known to Morris, who launched the brand in South Africa in 1993, after sanctions were lifted. He continued to work for Reebok as regional director of Africa and the Middle East and later regional director of Asia Pacific until 2001.
Accent Group pivots focus
Accent Group’s decision “to put in place an alternative arrangement” for Reebok came out of a company-wide review of its portfolio. The group also decided not to renew the distribution agreement for Sperry and shut down its sportswear and sneaker retail chain Pivot.
“Over the past three years, Accent Group has been strongly focused on innovation and growth and this will continue,” the company’s CEO Daniel Agostinelli said.
“We have reviewed the businesses in detail with a strong focus on ROI, future investment and scalability. This review has enabled us to have a clear view of those businesses which deliver, or which we believe will deliver strong positive investment returns so that we may in turn continue to invest and drive growth in those businesses.”
Agostinelli noted that a full range of Reebok products will continue to be sold through its multi-brand retail chains, including Hype, Platypus, The Athlete’s Foot and Trybe, for the next 10 years.