Reebok's US operation, shoe design group have a new owner
Galaxy will also be involved in running Reebok's business in the European Union and the United Kingdom, as a partner in a new joint venture with Batra Group. Authentic did not disclose the financial terms of either transaction in its announcement on Wednesday.
Authentic will still own the Reebok brand and related intellectual property, although the US employees now work for Galaxy, according to Steve Robaire, an executive vice president at Authentic. Reebok employs about 300 people at its headquarters in the Seaport, including Reebok's global design group — or roughly half the number who worked there when Adidas decided in 2016 to move the operation to Boston from Canton.
Longtime Reebok executive Todd Krinsky will remain in place as its president and CEO, a position he's held since the fall of 2022. Galaxy will operate the business in the US as a licensee with Authentic and also as a global supplier to Reebok licensees in international markets.
'The heart of the brand never left Boston,' Robaire said. 'None of that has changed. All of that has just transitioned from Sparc to Galaxy.'
Galaxy executives couldn't be reached for comment. In a prepared statement, Galaxy chief executive Eddie Esses said his company's focus will be to 'unleash Reebok's full potential and ensure we design and produce the best athletic shoes for customers worldwide.'
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Robaire said the transfer should help position Reebok for more growth, by placing it with a company that specializes in footwear, instead of with a company — Sparc or its successor, Catalyst — that specializes in apparel.
'We really feel like, with Galaxy, we are really set up for significantly more growth both in the US market and also from around the world,' Robaire said.
Reebok suffered to some extent under 15 years of Adidas ownership because it was considered secondary to the German company's flagship brand. Robaire said that Reebok had annual retail sales of $3.6 billion when Authentic acquired the brand from Adidas, but that has since grown to around $5 billion a year. Authentic chief executive Jamie Salter has said he would like to see Reebok hit $10 billion in annual sales, a goal that Robaire believes is achievable within the next three or four years.
Toward that end, Reebok is getting back into the golf business, with a retail launch of a new golf shoe line, Nano Golf, within the next few weeks, and it's been making a bigger push in basketball, to augment Reebok's core focus on fitness and lifestyle shoes. Robaire also said Reebok expects to launch a line of cleated footwear soon.
'This first phase of growth [means] getting Reebok back out there,' said Robaire, who worked directly for Reebok before joining Authentic three years ago. 'Adidas had limited our ability to do that.'
Jon Chesto can be reached at
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