Anyone have any scoop on Authentic brands gobbling up the whole action sports sector? Do you work for them? Are they keeping the brands silo-ed and remaining at their own headquarters or consolidating everything? Is there any culture or typical mega conglomorate (ie: Li + fung/ GBG style)?
I know for the SPARC brands, which is owned by ABG, that Brooks Brothers, Lucky, AĂ©ropostale & Nautica are all at the NYC office. Forever 21 stayed in LA, Reebok stayed in Boston, and Eddie Bauer stayed in Seattle.
Sounds like they are leaving teams alone then… ? It’s crazy how many brands they own !! I didn’t even realize al the ones you just mentioned under SPARC!
1 Like
I know for EB, they kept all the creative & people who work on product etcs, but let go people in departments like HR and accounting since that is taken care of in NY headquarters. Also they added some people for Wholesale which is overseen by NY office.
I used to work at Sparc… there’s been talk that all brands will eventually have a presence in NY. Things are being integrated very slowly
I can confirm for Lucky that they have decimated any presence in LA. It was once an LA founded and based brand, but as soon as SPARC got ahold of it, they eliminated nearly every role based in LA (production, product development, planning, allocations, design, merchandising, HR just to name a few). Very old school mentality and a pretty rough leadership team.
1 Like