Unified Commerce Group acquires Greats from Steven Madden, invests in Böhme

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Aug 21, 2024

Unified Commerce Group (UCG)announced on Monday it has acquired Greats Inc., a digitally-native footwear brand specialising in premium sneakers for men and women, as well as making an investment in womenswear retailer Böhme.

Terms of both deals were not disclosed.

UCG has acquired the Greats brand from U.S. fashion and apparel maker Steven Madden Ltd. Under the deal, UCG will assume operational responsibility of the sneaker brand and, as part of the deal, Steven Madden, through one of its subsidiaries, will become a shareholder of UCG.

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"Greats pioneered the direct-to-consumer model in footwear, and continues to delight its customers with high-quality, beautiful fashion sneakers" said Dustin Jones, CEO and founder of UCG.

"We have admired the brand for a long time, and the clear synergies with our existing apparel brands, along with its valuable customer base presents an excellent opportunity to leverage our operational expertise to drive further scale."

Founded in 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City, Greats is a direct-to-consumer footwear brand known for its timeless and versatile styles, and is synonymous with accessible high quality footwear.

"We have known Dustin and his team for a number of years, and are very confident that Greats will find a strong strategic fit with the fast-growing portfolio of brands at UCG," said Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Steven Madden.

UCG was founded in 2019 as a platform to enable lifestyle brands to scale through shared services, anchored by data-driven customer insights and operational excellence.

Greats becomes the third brand in UCG's portfolio, in addition to Canadian fashion brand Frank And Oak, and LA-based athleisure brand Spiritual Gangster, which the company acquired in 2020, and 2023, respectively.

Böhme was founded in Utah in 2006 by Vivien and Fernanda Böhme, two sisters originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since its inception, the womenswear retailer  has expanded to 14 stores in Utah, Idaho, Montana and Arizona, as well as its online store.