NEW YORK (AP) — Levi Strauss is ready to lastly half methods with Dockers — inking a deal to promote its model as soon as credited with propelling the recognition of “Informal Fridays” to Genuine Manufacturers Group.
In an announcement Tuesday, the denim large mentioned it had agreed to promote Dockers to Genuine for as much as $391 million. The transaction will begin at an preliminary worth of $311 million, with the potential of including one other $80 million to the worth tag based mostly on enterprise efficiency below the brand new possession.
The sale arrives as San Francisco-based Levi Strauss boosts its give attention to the chain’s core Levi’s model — in addition to Past Yoga, which the corporate acquired in 2021, as increasingly more shoppers proceed to cozy as much as athleisure put on.
Promoting Dockers “additional aligns our portfolio with our strategic priorities,” Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass mentioned in an announcement, whereas thanking the Dockers group for his or her dedication to constructing the model, which she mentioned “continues to be the authority on khaki.”
Jamie Salter, founder and CEO of New York-based Genuine, known as Dockers a “pure match” for his firm’s mannequin. Dockers “performed a key position in shaping informal workwear as we all know it immediately, and we see vital potential to construct on that legacy and develop the model throughout a wide range of classes,” he mentioned.
Levi Strauss launched Dockers again in 1986, and the model quickly turned a “Informal Friday” staple. Many workplace employees turned to Dockers’ khakis and looser button-downs within the place of extra conventional enterprise apparel. Whereas it was not the only — or very first — creator of dressed-down workplace appears, Dockers has been widely-credited as an integral half to “Informal Friday’s” rise, notably within the 90s.
However the almost 40-year-old model has struggled some lately — notably for the reason that begin of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many patrons traded their khakis for extra snug garments, like yoga pants and different athleisure, as they started working from residence. And even with returns to the workplace, many gown codes stay extra relaxed than they had been earlier than.
Levi Strauss mentioned it started to “consider strategic options” for Dockers in October of final yr, citing latest underperformance on the time.
On Tuesday, Levi Strauss mentioned it anticipated to shut Dockers’ sale to Genuine round July 31 for the U.S. and Canada, pending customary closing circumstances, and in January 2026 for remaining operations.
In its 2024 fiscal yr, Levi Strauss reported revenue of $210.6 million and income of $6.36 billion.