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Boston & New England  + Massachusetts  + Retail  | 

Rockport Steps into Bankruptcy Court with a Buyer in Stride

Newton, MA-based The Rockport Group, LLC stepped into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday and may close stores. The comfort shoe maker cited challenges from an evolving retail landscape and a costly separation from former owner Adidas AG as the reasons for the filing, which included a plan to cede ownership to private-equity firm CB Marathon Opco, LLC, an affiliate of Charlesbank Equity Fund IX, Limited Partnership.

An attempt to avoid the situation included spinning off from German parent Addidas in 2015 into a New Balance affiliate, and relocating away from Reebok’s old Canton campus into a new facility in Newton in 2016. That separation ultimately proved complicated and more expensive than expected. Additionally, its supply chain was disrupted when three factories operated by foreign vendors closed in 2016.

The company’s shoe brands include Rockport, Aravon and Dunham, which it aims to continue making. Rockport, which was founded in 1971, warned it may be forced to close all of its stand-alone retail stores, including 27 in the U.S., though intends to continue its global wholesale, independent and e-commerce operations.

Roughly 57% of Rockport’s sales are derived from its wholesale business, which includes products distributed to department stores, specialty retailers, independent stores and online sellers. The company also has 33 stores in Canada, sells products online and maintains relationships with 22 global distributors that sell its products in 35 countries.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser

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About Dennis Kaiser

Dennis Kaiser is Vice President of Content and Public Relations for Connect Commercial Real Estate. Dennis is a communications leader with more than 30 years of experience including as a journalist and in corporate and agency marketing communications roles. He is responsible for Connect’s client content operations and is involved in a range of initiatives ranging from content strategy, message development, copywriting, media relations, social media and content marketing services. In his most recent corporate communications roles, he led a regional public relations effort across Southern California for CBRE, played a key marketing role on JLL’s national retail team, and was responsible for directing the global public relations effort at ValleyCrest, the nation’s largest commercial landscape services company. In addition to his vast commercial real estate experience, Dennis has worked on communications and launch strategies for a number of residential projects such as Disney’s Celebration in Florida, Ritter Ranch in Palmdale California (7,200 homes, 22,000 acres), WaterColor in Florida and PremierGarage in Phoenix. Dennis’s agency background included firms such as Idea Hall and Macy + Associates. He has earned an outstanding reputation with organization leaders as a trusted advisor, strategic program implementer, consensus builder and exceptional collaborator. Dennis has developed and managed national communications programs for Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, both public and private. He’s successfully worked with journalists across the globe representing clients involved in major-breaking news stories, product launches, media tours, and company news announcements. Dennis has been involved in a host of charitable and community organizations including the American Cancer Society, Easter Seals, BoyScouts, Chrysalis Foundation, Freedom For Life, HOLA, L.A.’s BEST, Reach Out and Read, Super Bowl Host Committee, and Thunderbirds Charities.

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