Dive Brief:
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Jimmy Choo announced on Monday it has decided to conduct a review of the various strategic options open to the luxury brand to maximize value for its shareholders, and has put itself up for sale, according to a company press release.
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There are no offers yet, the company said, though it is expected to attract buyers from the U.S. as well as from the Middle East, China and Russia, The Guardian reports.
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The company discussed the strategic review process with its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury, which has confirmed its support of the process. JAB, an investment company run by German billionaire family Reimann, owns 68% of Jimmy Choo.
Dive Insight:
The luxury shoe and accessories retailer, which runs 150 stores worldwide, was founded in London in 1996 by Malaysian fashion designer Jimmy Choo and the then-Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon, according to the report. Both Choo and Mellon have since left the company, which is now run by CEO Pierre Denis and Creative Director Sandra Choi.
Jimmy Choo rose to prominence in the early part of the 21st century, during the run of the television show “Sex and the City,” which positioned the uber-pricey footwear as a symbol of success for fashionable, independent women in New York.
Women's shoes remain the core of the product offer, alongside handbags, small leather goods, scarves, sunglasses, eyewear, belts and fragrances and has more recently expanded to men's shoes — sales of which are growing more swiftly than sales of women’s items, even if they remain a smaller slice of the pie. Yet sales have been sluggish of late, as the waning post-Brexit pound has helped dampen demand in Europe and the strong dollar has hurt sales Stateside — though sales in China in particular have remained robust.
High-end luxury retailers like Burberry and Kate Spade have also felt the pinch; Kate Spade is said to also be for sale, with comeback accessories retailer Coach the most likely bidder for that brand.
