Bob Hurley and family have acquired the Simple footwear brand.
Hurley is the founder of Costa Mesa surf brand Hurley, which Nike sold to New York apparel company Bluestar Alliance last year.
The surfwear apparel founder’s Newport Beach-based Kandui Holdings LLC said it acquired the intellectual property and assets of the Simple brand from KTSimple LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Denis Ryan, who bought Simple’s trademarks in 2015 and had been running the brand since then, is expected to remain with the brand as partner and owner in the newly created Simple Shoes LLC.
“Aside from being a great brand name, Simple always had a clear and differentiated point of view,” Hurley said in a release announcing the deal. “Simple’s reason for being feels more relevant in today’s mixed up world than ever before. We are energized about this acquisition and looking forward to delivering footwear, apparel, and accessories that live up to the Simple name.”
Specific plans for the business have not yet been outlined but Ryan said the deal would help the Simple brand “reach its full potential.”
Simple started in 1991 and focused on classic sneaker silhouettes. It currently sells an assortment of men’s and women’s shoes, in addition to flip flops, T-shirts and hats.
