New Balance has acquired the Vital Apparel Group, one of the leading active apparel companies in the United States.
“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 retailer’s athletic apparel business very seriously. The New Balance brand can drive incremental sales for our customers and Vital’s leadership and expertise in the sporting goods channel complements both teams’ core competencies in product innovation and customer service.”
Says Kerry Kligerman, president of Vital: “The Vital team is excited to have the opportunity to apply our capabilities and experience to help grow New Balance. New Balance is one of the strongest global brands in the athletic industry and has unlimited possibilities in apparel.”
In June 2007, Vital signed an apparel license agreement with New Balance-owned Warrior to design and develop Warrior-branded apparel.
