Steve Madden, a designer and marketer of fashion footwear and accessories for women, men and children, has announced that it has completed the acquisition of privately held company, Greats. Greats is a leading digitally native footwear brand specializing in premium sneakers made in Italy, well-known for its timeless yet aspirational and versatile styles. “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Greats, a pioneering digitally native footwear brand. We see significant opportunity to expand the business by combining Greats’ strengths – which include an outstanding brand and stylish, classic designs that appeal to today’s more casual consumer – with our proven business model, established infrastructure, and global reach,” Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of Steve Madden said in a press release. “Steve is a true maverick and is one of the people I look up to in the footwear industry. He’s created a multi-billion dollar footwear business from nothing and there are less than a handful of people in the world who have done that. Getting the chance to collaborate with and learn from Steve and the rest of the Madden firm to accelerate my business is something that made a ton of sense to me. My goal has been the same since I started Greats, and that is to create one of the leading footwear brands in the world. This partnership is another chapter in the Greats book to help accomplish that and I couldn’t be happier,” Ryan Babenzein, founder and CEO of Greats said. “Rarely in my 30 years since I started Steve Madden, have I come across an opportunity as exciting as this. Ryan’s shoes are the talk among all the millennial men I encounter. He reminds me so much of myself. We can’t wait to explode this thing,” Steve Madden, founder, creative, and design chief of Steve Madden said.
