Here's hoping that luxury retail is back. Labelux, the privately held group that owns Derek Lam and Bally, among others, has agreed to buy shoemaker Jimmy Choo for $811 million. Word is the company paid TowerBrook more than three times its initial investment.
Jimmy Choo had net sales of $241 million in 2010 and is growing at more than 10 percent in all categories and geographic regions, Labelux said. The company currently has 120 stores.
We hear Jimmy Choo’s founder, Tamara Mellon, and CEO Joshua Schulman will stay on after the purchase. Bloomberg writes that "sales of luxury shoes will rise 20 percent a year through 2013," according to research firm Euromonitor said last year.
Visit www.jimmychoo.com.