History
Accent Group began as a small New Zealand wholesaling business in 1988. [2] In 2015, RCG Corporation acquired Accent Group for around $200 million. [4] In November 2017, RCG Corporation was renamed Accent Group Limited. [5]
The company acquired several Australian fashion and footwear brands in the late 2010s and early 2020s. [6] In April 2021, Accent Group entered an agreement to acquire the Glue Store retail business and the Next Athleisure's wholesale and distribution business for $13 million. Next Athleisure owned the brands Nude Lucy, Beyond Her, Lulu & Rose, Article One, and distributed the brands Superga, Ellesse, Le Coq Sportif, Kappa, K-Way, Sebago and Napapijri. [7]
More than 400 Accent Group stores were closed for at least a month in 2020 due to lockdown restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. [8] Restrictions between July and October 2020 caused it to miss expectations by $86 million, but the company benefited from an increase in online sales. [9]
The company reported a fourth consecutive year of record profit in the 2021 financial year. It recorded $1.14 billion in sales, an increase of 19.9% on the previous year. [6] Accent Group reported a reduction in sales in the second half of 2021 due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between July and October, more than 400 of its 700 stores were required to close because of lockdowns. [3]
The business was affected by a drop in foot traffic in January 2022 due to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. [10] The company decided against providing guidance for the first half of 2022 due to uncertainties around supply chains. [11] However, fund manager Wilson Asset Management expected the company's performance to improve due to the easing of restrictions and increased foot traffic through its stores. [12]
In February 2024, Accent announced it would end its franchise model for its The Athlete's Foot brand. At the time, the company owned 73 Athlete's Foot stores and the remaining 62 were franchised. Accent would not renew franchise agreements which were set to expire over the next five years and would explore acquiring stores. [13] [14]
In August 2024, British company Frasers Group acquired a 14.65% stake in Accent Group. It increased its stake to 19.57% in April 2025 when the two companies entered an agreement for Accent to launch and operate the Sports Direct chain in Australia and New Zealand for an initial term of 25 years. Accent plans to roll out at least 50 Sports Direct stores and an online store over the proceeding six years. As part of the deal, Accent also acquired Frasers’ discount online fashion marketplace, MySale, and will have access to Frasers portfolio of brands. [15] [16]
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