Athletic brand Reebok is making its debut by opening its first full-size store in Mexico. The move comes in the wake of efforts to revitalize the brand, which was sold to Authentic Brands Group two years ago at a significant loss following the transition from Adidas.
Reebok is expanding its presence in the Mexican market by introducing its first freestanding store in Fórum Buenavista, a shopping center in Mexico City. Another step in this direction is opening an outlet store in the Punta Norte shopping center owned by Simon Property Group. According to the Reebok Mexico website, another outlet store is planned for Plaza Central in Mexico City.
Over the past six months, Reebok Mexico has rapidly expanded its operations by opening a headquarters in Mexico City. Despite this, representatives from Reebok Mexico, Reebok and Authentic Brands Group have yet to provide details on their retail store strategy and the brand’s overall goals in Mexico and Latin America in general.
Authentic Brands Group, which specializes in brand management, acquired Reebok two years ago for $2.5 billion following its sale by Adidas, which acquired the brand in 2006 for $3.8 billion. In the process of integrating into ABG, Reebok reorganized, resulting in the layoff of about 150 employees, mostly at its Boston headquarters.
The popularity of the Reebok brand originally peaked in the 1980s, when it overtook even Nike. Now ABG is trying to bring this brand back among the successful brands in their portfolio.
