Arklyz, owner of the athletic specialty footwear and lifestyle retailer, The Athlete’s Foot (TAF), announced its acquisition of 70+-year-old highly successful Shoe City, a Baltimore-based sneaker and streetwear lifestyle retail chain with an online platform ycmc.com.
Arklyz Group will add the Shoe City banner to the TAF organization. Each business’s primary goal is to expand and thrive from economies of scale while continuing as leaders in the athletic specialty footwear and lifestyle category. The acquisition will add 40 more store locations with an expanded retail presence in the DMV region to already existing TAF locations while also benefiting from Shoe City’s e-commerce platform to help jumpstart TAF’s omnichannel strategies. Param Singh, owner and CEO of Arklyz Group has appointed Matthew Lafone, President & General Manager of the Americas, to now oversee both businesses.
One of the major reasons behind the acquisition of Shoe City is TAF and Shoe City’s aligned values for a deep local community engagement and commitment to supporting their loyal customers in underserved neighborhoods. In addition, as a retail leader, Arklyz also values Shoe City’s rich, local heritage in Maryland, where the business started with one location in Baltimore in 1949 to expand to 40 stores in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia (DMV area) and together with an online platform, www.ycmc.com, evolved into becoming a go-to destination for the industry’s latest sneaker releases.
“Adding Shoe City and ycmc.com to the portfolio together with TAF strengthens our position as one of the nation’s top retail destinations for footwear, apparel, and accessories,” said the owner and CEO of Arklyz, Param Singh. “I am also confident that having cohesive leadership under Matthew Lafone, will not only make for a seamless transition but enable both TAF and Shoe City to execute effectively on future growth plans.”
“From starting with our first retail location in Baltimore, then expanding to 40 more stores over the last 70 years across the DMV with deep local ties in the community, I am glad that Arklyz and The Athlete’s Foot, with a very similar approach, are taking over our family business,” said Shoe City President, Greg Greenburg. “I want to thank all of our customers and employees for growing our company into the loved brand that it is today. I believe that Arklyz and TAF will help Shoe City and ycmc.com grow further and make them even more community and culture relevant to our local consumers.”
