Fila Korea Ltd. and its holding company, Global Leading Brands House, has purchased the ailing Fila USA and installed a new management team in an effort to revitalize U.S. sales and reposition the brand.
Korean businessman Yoon-Soo Yoon, who purchased the U.S. and all global Fila operations from Sport Brands International Ltd. for $400 million, has relocated key staff from his Korean operations to Fila USA?s Sparks headquarters.
“Having been affiliated with Fila for so many years, we are proud to have the opportunity to lead such a distinguished brand,” Yoon said in a news release.
In the last five years, Fila USA has had three chief executive officers and lost a number of athletes from its roster. The company has no basketball or football players, whose name recognition accountsfor the mass-market sales appeal of such brands as No. 1 Nike and No. 2 Adidas.
In 2003, Fila USA went up for sale and was purchased by Sport Brands International, which unsuccessfully relaunched the product line in the U.S. to a tennis, mountain-climber and golf marketplace.
By 2006, total company sales were $100 million, a mere pittance of the multibillion-dollar industry and just over 20 percent of the $467 million Nike spent on celebrity endorsements alone out of a $1.7 billion advertising budget.
Executives say they hope the reorganization will help boost sales by as much as 30 percent.
Yoon, who made Fila Korea one of the top sportswear brands in South Korea, will be chairman of Global Leading Brands House. He will be joined by former Fila President and CEO Jon Epstein, who is leaving Le Coq Sportif.
Under the terms of the sale, Global Leading Brands House now holds the rights to the worldwide use of the brands and trademarks of Fila.
“At present, the company has 150 employees at its Sparks location,” Fila spokeswoman Lauren Mallon said.
