New Balance has acquired the Vital Apparel Group, based in New York. Vital Apparel Group includes Vital Apparel, Vital Accessories, which includes the license for Soffe Accessories; and the Vital Performance division which includes InSport. Vital Apparel Group is owned and operated by Chris Rosen and Kerry Kligerman.
“Our acquisition of Vital gives us significant opportunities to accelerate the growth of New Balance apparel,” says Rob DeMartini, CEO at New Balance. “We take our responsibility to drive category growth for our retailers athletic apparel business very seriously. The New Balance brand can drive incremental sales for our customers and Vitals leadership and expertise in the sporting goods channel complements both teams core competencies in product innovation and customer service.”
“The Vital team is excited to have the opportunity to apply our capabilities and experience to help grow New Balance,” says Kerry Kligerman, president of Vital. “New Balance is one of the strongest global brands in the athletic industry and has unlimited possibilities in apparel.”
In June of this year, Vital signed an apparel license licensee agreement with New Balance-owned Warrior to design and develop Warrior branded apparel as well as introduce new and innovative materials and designs.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
