Jamie Salter, CEO of the Authentic Brands Group (ABG), told Footwear News that he sees Reebok growing by more than 20 percent in 2022, generating more than $5 billion worth of sales at the retail level. He added that ABG’s goal is to take the brand’s retail sales up to $10 billion within the next five years. The digital business will triple in the next 24 months, he also said in an interview with FN, which has named ABG Company of the Year at the magazine’s 35th annual FN Achievement Awards.
According to Adidas’ annual report for 2020, Reebok became profitable last year, but its sales declined by 19 percent on a currency-neutral basis, down to €1,409 million.
Accompanied by Shaquille O’Neill, Salter told FN that Reebok will be selling lots of Shaq basketball shoes after ABG closes its acquisition in the first quarter of 2022. O’Neill, the former NBA star who is a major shareholder in ABG, said he insisted for the group to take over Reebok, which had first signed a sponsorship deal with him in 1992. Shaq said: “We’re looking to expand, we’re looking to grow, we’re looking to continue to excite people and to have fun. That’s what it’s all about. When you ask what the future holds, if we just continue to do the things that we’re doing, changing people’s lives and putting out great product, the sky’s the limit for this company.”
ABG recently won the contest for the acquisition of Reebok from Adidas for a total of up to €2.1 billion. In the interview with FN, Salter said: : “Reebok was never broken. Adidas bought Reebok and everything good that was going on at Reebok became Adidas. It didn’t matter if it was players or athletes. They took all the good out of Reebok and they gave it to Adidas. And Reebok has gone down. But all those great people, they still exist at Reebok. We basically said to the employees: Show us what you want to do. Tell us what you want to do.”
