Delia’s in late September Sold Its Extreme-Sports Gear merchant CCS to retail chain Foot Locker for $102 million in cash.
Besides CCS, the direct segment of Delia’s includes the catalogs and Websites of teen girls apparel brands Delia’s and Alloy, which target consumers between the ages of 12 and 19.
Founded in California in 1985, CCS sells skateboard footwear, apparel and accessories through catalogs and the Internet. Its revenue is projected to exceed $80 million in 2009. CCS is currently managed by a team based in New York led by Susan Van Arsdale, who will remain with CCS as managing director.
Why would Delia’s sell CCS? The sale was prompted by the strong performance at Delia’s stores, “and the real estate opportunities at hand for the core Delia’s brand,” says Lee Helman, managing director with investment firm Financo, which acted as the exclusive financial adviser to Delia’s for the sale of the CCS business.
“Management was spread thin across four different concepts,” and it wanted to focus on the core Delia’s concept, Helman says. CCS was “an exceptional performer, and the sale enables management to find a home for the brand to continue to thrive.”
For Foot Locker, skateboarding is a category “that very much has a lot of momentum in the marketplace,” Helman says. The CCS deal will make Foot Locker the dominant skate and surf cataloger/e-tailer.