New York: Levi Strauss & Co., which gave America its first pair of blue jeans, is going public for the second time.
The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder’s descendants took it private again in 1985.
The stock is listed under the ticker “LEVI” and is set to start trading on Thursday at $17, above an originally expected range of $14 to $16.
The New York Stock Exchange community, including more than 300 traders, suspended its “no jeans allowed” policy on Thursday to celebrate Levi Strauss returning to the public markets. More than 120 employees from Levi’s global offices, including its CEO Chip Bergh, took part in the event, wearing jeans and donning white T-shirt with the company’s red bat wing logo.
The IPO comes as the iconic brand is staging a comeback under Mr Bergh even as it faces increasing competition and a changing retail landscape. Women are opting for yoga pants or other comfortable athletic sportswear that can be worn every day. And the brand is also contending with a shrinking number of department stores, once its traditional venue of distribution.
But since assuming the helm in 2011, Mr Bergh has refashioned the brand and image. It didn’t chase after the yoga trend but rather focused on enhancing the fit of its women’s jeans with stretchier fabrics.
Mr Bergh also has created buzz with partnerships with celebrities like Justin Timberlake while increasing Levi’s marketing at events like Coachella, where Beyonce performed in the brand’s cut-off shorts.
At the same time, Levi’s has been expanding online and juggling between selling to low-end and high-end stores. It’s also been opening its own stores.
All of that has helped Levi Strauss turn in a 14 per cent increase in sales to $5.6 billion for the year ended Nov. 25, 2018.
“Focusing on product improvements and diversification have been excellent moves,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a retail research firm. “There’s a lot of competition, but Levi’s has always been the brand in denim. ”
The timing might be right for Levi’s. Jeans sales appear to be on an upswing in the US, increasing 2.2 percent to $16.7 billion last year after four straight years of declines, according to data from Euromonitor.
