Reebok Lays Off Employees Amid Footwear Restructure, Licensing Shift
The company behind Reebok‘s operations is laying off employees in the brand’s footwear business as it reworks the licensing strategy for the brand.
Authentic confirmed to FN that SPARC group, the lifestyle brand operator that operates Reebok through a license with the parent company, has reorganized Reebok’s footwear business as it looks to transfer licenses to new partners and focus more deeply on apparel. Authentic did not confirm which specific footwear divisions were impacted by the cuts, but employees in merchandising, design, product management, talent acquisition and innovation shared on LinkedIn this week that their roles had been eliminated to to a restructuring at Reebok.
The news represents the latest turmoil to plague the heritage brand this year. Earlier this month, Authentic terminated its license with New Guards Group (NGG), a division of Farfetch, to distribute Reebok footwear and apparel in Europe. Under the terms of the former deal, NGG had operated the European operations of Reebok’s branded retail stores and e-commerce, and worked to drive wholesale distribution for the label.
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When Authentic acquired Reebok in 2022, chief executive officer Jamie Salter outlined a goal for the brand to hit $10 billion in annual retail sales globally by the next five years. Authentic also planned to grow Reebok’s digital business, as well as lean into the footwear and apparel designs that have made Reebok unique. Shortly after the deal closed, the company announced multiple plans for licensing and distributing Reebok across the globe. At the time, Reebok laid off 150 employees, most of whom were based in Boston.
Kerby Jean-Raymond also left his role as global creative director of Reebok in March of 2022.
