I talked with Patrick McNulty to follow up on his company’s decision to sell to Deckers Outdoor Corp. last week.
Patrick is the co-founder of Tsubo, a high-end comfort footwear line sold at stores such as Fred Segal and Barneys New York and in a dozen countries. Previously, he worked at Airwalk, Reebok and helped start Sanuk.
Deckers, owner of Simple, Teva and Ugg, purchased Tsubo for $8 million, which included $2 million in notes on Tsubo’s books, McNulty said. In 2007, Tsubo recorded $10 million in sales.
Patrick said he and his partner, British designer Nick O’Rorke, looked for a strategic buyer for a year and a half that could take the brand to the next level. Up to now, the company had self-funded operations.
“At a certain point, you don’t have enough resources and you wear too many hats,” Patrick said. “We were profitable every year – we were cheapskates.”
Deckers, with $448 million in annual revenue, has the money and sourcing capabilities to grow Tsubo.
Nick will remain with company, while Patrick has left. Patrick plans to stay in footwear, but wants to move back to the action sports market.
Tsubo started in 1998 and makes mens, women’s and kids shoes.
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