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Sneaker marketplace Goat Group Inc. is set to acquire streetwear-resale site Grailed to expand deeper into the apparel business.
Grailed, a peer-to-peer fashion site, will continue to operate under its own brand and will integrate Goat’s operations infrastructure, including shipping and payments. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Eddy Lu, co-founder and chief executive officer of Goat Group, said Grailed offers unique items such as rare Balenciaga jackets and vintage Coogi sweaters that can’t be found elsewhere.
Goat Group executives say expansion into fashion and accessories is a “natural progression” for the company. They’ve also been seeking growth abroad, opening retail and warehouse facilities in Singapore, Tokyo, and Shenzhen, China, over the past year. In April, the company signed a deal for French football club Paris Saint-Germain to release new merchandise on its e-commerce platform.
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Goat first invested in Grailed last year, leading a $60 million funding round along with Groupe Artemis and Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri. Grailed wasn’t considering a sale at the time, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The resale landscape has changed since then with fashion labels such as Kering Inc.’s Balenciaga and Capri Holdings Ltd.’s Jimmy Choo moving to grab their own slice of a growing secondhand market that’s projected to hit $30 billion in the US next year, according to Coresight Research. Earlier this month, reseller Poshmark Inc. agreed to be acquired by South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. for $1.2 billion in a transaction analysts saw as a kickoff to more deals within the sector.
“We’ve been continuing to see growth across our businesses, especially in apparel and accessories, which have doubled the past 12 months,” said Lu. “When you’re looking to accelerate growth even further, that’s when consolidation makes sense.”
By Kim Bhasin
Learn more:
How Grailed Became Menswear’s Luxury Resale Mecca
With a strategy rooted in curation, content and community, the fast-growing peer-to-peer platform has become a top fashion re-commerce destination for men.
