Cherokee Inc., also known as Apex Global Brands, is an American based global

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

and

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

company, headquartered in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The company was established in 1973 and its brands are available in 110 countries in 12,000 retail locations and on digital commerce. Cherokee owns a number of fashion and lifestyle brands, including: Cherokee, Cherokee Workwear, Carole Little,

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

Signature Apparel and Hawk Brands, 900 Tony Hawk,

Liz Lange Liz Lange is an American fashion designer and businessperson. She is the creative director and CEO of Figue, and the founder of Liz Lange Maternity, which introduced form-fitting designer pregnancy wear in 1998. Lange has been called a pioneer ...

, Sideout,

Hi-Tec Hi-Tec Sports, trading as Hi-Tec, is a privately held producer and distributor of sportswear and accessories, headquartered in the Netherlands. History Hi-Tec Sports was founded in 1974, in Shoeburyness, Essex, England, by Frank Van Wezel. ...

, Magnum, 50 Peaks, Interceptor, Everyday California, Point Cove, Saint Tropez, Chorus Line, All That Jazz, Ale by Allesandra, Teen Hearts and Flip Flop Shops.

History

Founding

In 1973, James Argyropoulos, the son of a Greek immigrant, launched custom-made footwear designs and began to sell them from his

Venice Beach, California Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

home. Soon it was stocked by department stores, including

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

and

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

. In the early 1980s, the brand expanded to selling women's and children's apparel. During this time, it became available worldwide. In the 1990s, Cherokee established a partnership with

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

. The headquarters at Sherman Oaks, California employs 51-200 employees. In 2021, Apex Global Brands was acquired by Galaxy Universal.

Filing for bankruptcy protection

It filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

in both 1993 and 1994, but continued to trade.

Expansion

Zellers Place Versailles, Montréal, QC 6 (8273400677)

In 1997, it acquired Sideout. From 2002, Cherokee was sold at

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

until 2015, when

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

took over the rights to sell the brand. However, following the 2016 acquisition of Argos by the UK retailer

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

, the Cherokee brand was quietly dropped and replaced by Sainsbury's own Tu brand of clothing in 2017. In December 2002, the company further expanded by acquiring the Carole Little, Saint Tropez, All That Jazz and Chorus Line brands and CL Fashion trademarks. From 2013 to 2015 Cherokee was sold at

Target Canada Target Canada Co. was the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary was formed with the acquisition of Zellers store leases fr ...

stores and was acquired by

Sears Canada Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears� ...

. Prior to Target, the label was sold by

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...

in Canada since 1998. In January 2014, Cherokee acquired the worldwide Tony Hawk and Hawk signature apparel brands. In May 2015, Cherokee acquired casual lifestyle brand Everyday California. On September 10, 2015, Cherokee announced Target would cease carrying the brand when its license expires on January 31, 2017. As of 2022 some Target shops do carry Cherokee products but on a non exclusive basis. In October 2015, Cherokee acquired Flip Flop Shops, a franchise retail chain offering flip flops, casual footwear and accessories. In November 2016, Cherokee acquired the

and Magnum brands.

Operations

Cherokee comprises a number of fashion and lifestyle brands:

Cherokee

Cherokee is the core eponymous brand, licensed in over 50 countries.

Cherokee Workwear

Cherokee Workwear is a brand that was introduced in 2004, which manufactures medical scrubs.

Carole Little

The Carole Little collection comprises items for work, travel and leisure.

Tony Hawk Signature Apparel and Hawk Brands

is an "action lifestyle" range.

900 Tony Hawk

900 Tony Hawk is a skateboard brand.

Liz Lange

is a maternity wear brand.

Sideout

Sideout was founded in 1983 and comprises athletic wear, sportswear and active wear.

Hi-Tec

is a

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

producer and distributor of

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...

and accessories, headquartered in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Magnum

Magnum is a footwear brand.

50 Peaks

50 Peaks is a brand which creates outdoor footwear, equipment and apparel.

Interceptor

Interceptor is a tactical boots brand.

Everyday California

Everyday California is a "casual style outfit" brand.

Point Cove

Point Cove is a Californian brand which sells clothing, footwear and accessories.

Saint Tropez

Saint Tropez is designed for younger women.

Chorus Line

Founded in 1975 by three men in southern California, Chorus Line is a moderately priced apparel company which initially begun as a retail company focusing exclusively on juniors collections. Chorus Line has branched out to include designs specifically aimed towards women in their 20s and 30s as well as petite and plus size divisions.

All That Jazz

All That Jazz appeals to a teenage female customer base and with low prices.

Flip Flop Shops

Flip Flop Shops was founded in 2004 and is a retail chain retailing popular brands and flip flops and casual footwear.

References

{{Reflist Clothing brands of the United States Clothing companies established in 1973 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies based in Los Angeles 1973 establishments in California