Unified Commerce Group (UCG) has acquired substantially all the assets of Greats, Inc., a digitally native footwear brand specializing in sneakers for men and women. The company also reported investing in Utah-based womenswear retailer Böhme.

Greats, founded in 2014 in Brooklyn, NY, is known for its direct-to-consumer footwear model. It now becomes the third brand in UCG’s portfolio, joining Canadian fashion brand Frank And Oak and LA-based athleisure brand Spiritual Gangster.

Böhme was founded in 2006 by Vivien and Fernanda Böhme, two sisters from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who immigrated to the United States as young girls. Vivien (CEO and Fernanda (Creative Director) have 14 store locations across the western U.S. (Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Arizona) and an online presence.

Founded in 2019, UCG offers a platform for lifestyle brands to scale through shared services anchored by “data-driven customer insights and operational excellence.”

With the acquisition of Greats and investment in Böhme, the UCG shared services platform, UCG Hub, provides operational support, leadership, and strategy to the four brands. Each has growing DTC e-commerce businesses and a combined footprint of over 30 retail stores and 200-plus wholesale partners.

“Greats pioneered the direct-to-consumer model in footwear and continues to delight its customers with high-quality, beautiful fashion sneakers,” said Dustin Jones, CEO and founder of UCG. “We have admired the brand for a long time, and the clear synergies with our existing apparel brands, along with its valuable customer base presents an excellent opportunity to leverage our operational expertise to drive further scale.”

Greats, Inc. was previously owned by Steven Madden, Ltd. UCG will assume operational responsibility and, as part of the deal, Steven Madden, Ltd., through one of its subsidiaries, will become a shareholder of UCG.

“We have known Dustin and his team for a number of years and are very confident that Greats will find a strong strategic fit with the fast-growing portfolio of brands at UCG,” offered Edward Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO of Steven Madden, Ltd.

Image courtesy Greats