Kandui Holdings LLC, founded by the Hurley family, through its new operating entity Simple Shoes LLC, has acquired the outstanding assets and intellectual property of Simple from KTSimple LLC.
Simple Shoes LLC will continue all ongoing operations with plans to enhance and evolve the Simple brand over time.
Simple, founded in the early 90s by Eric Meyer, enjoyed growth and success throughout the early 2000s until the brand eventually went dormant in 2011. Deckers Brands discontinued the eco-conscious label in part due to some overlap with its Sanuk acquisition made in May 2011.
In 2015, the Simple trademarks were acquired by Denis Ryan, a design-focused shoe industry veteran who has since revived the brand, running a primarily direct-to-consumer business at simpleshoes.com for the last two years. Ryan, who also owns ICB, Int’l, a footwear design and development group, will work closely with the Simple team as both a partner and an owner in Simple Shoes LLC.
Ryan expressed his excitement about the partnership. “The most enjoyable part of this deal has been meeting the Hurleys. They know this market extremely well and fully understand that business is all about relationships and people first! As an owner, business partner, and Simple fan, I am looking forward to seeing Simple reach its full potential.”
Jeff Hurley, Kandui co-founder and CEO, said, “We are really excited about the future of Simple and honored to have a talent like Denis as a partner in this venture. Simple always had a cool vibe – consumer-focused, no-nonsense, anti-hype way of approaching things. They were way ahead of their time in terms of innovation and sustainable manufacturing practices and prioritized making the right decisions for the benefit of the planet at a time when the masses didn’t necessarily care about lofty concepts like sustainability. We’ve always been fans of Simple and, when this opportunity presented itself, it just seemed like a great fit.”
Bob Hurley, Kandui co-founder, added: “Aside from being a great brand name, Simple always had a clear and differentiated point of view. Simple’s reason for being feels more relevant in today’s mixed-up world than ever before. We are energized about this acquisition and looking forward to delivering footwear, apparel, and accessories that live up to the Simple name.”
Kandui is planning to acquire additional brands., Kandui said it is “creating a network of brands and services to serve the next generation. Kandui’s priority is building long term brand value for acquired brands, start-ups and other partnerships leveraging Kandui’s core competencies in innovation, design, sales, marketing, and operations.”
Photo courtesy Simple Shoes
