Heel on Ugg’s neck
If the company that owns Ugg boots doesn’t step into line, its board could get kicked to the curb.
Activist investment fund Marcato Capital, which has been prodding Ugg’s struggling parent, Deckers Outdoors, to sell itself, threatened to wage a proxy battle to replace all of its board directors if the company doesn’t act soon.
Although Deckers began a strategic review in April, Marcato boss Mick McGuire griped in a Tuesday letter that its board showed a “lack of transparency” in the proceedings.
Ugg boots, whose sheepskin styles account for 80 percent of Deckers’ sales, have wavered in popularity in recent years since exploding on the scene in the early aughts. The brand tried to raise prices in 2012 amid a sheepskin supply crunch, but shoppers balked.
Facing a supply glut last year, the brand started selling its boots at Macy’s, down-market from Ugg’s usual retailers such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.
Following the slipups of Deckers’ premier boot brand, Marcato Capital amassed a 6 percent stake in Deckers in February, pushing it to pursue a sale.