Rockport's second bankruptcy in five years — $100M in debt after a bad bet on back-to-work

Rockport was founded in 1971 in Massachusetts by Saul and Bruce Katz, father and son, who introduced rubber-soled casual shoes to the market. The brand grew into an icon of comfortable footwear. It was sold to Reebok in 1986 for $118 million, later became an independent subsidiary of Adidas, and in 2015 was sold to a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and New Balance. The separation from Adidas proved costly and the company lost its financial footing, filing for Chapter 11 in 2018 and closing all its US retail stores.

After emerging from its first bankruptcy, Rockport shifted to an e-commerce and wholesale model and generated over $203 million in revenue by 2022. That spring, anticipating a back-to-work sales surge as office workers returned, the company significantly increased inventory purchases. The boom never came. Wholesale customers and distributors canceled orders amid inflation and weakening economic conditions, leaving Rockport holding excess inventory. Revenue had already fallen from $275 million before the pandemic to $162 million in 2020, and the recovery it bet on did not materialize.

By June 2023, Rockport had nearly $100 million in funded debt obligations, with $61 million due in August. It defaulted on its borrowings, entered and then defaulted on a forbearance agreement, and signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell assets. On June 14, 2023, Rockport filed for Chapter 11 for the second time in five years. It reported liabilities and assets between $50 million and $100 million, owed its top five vendors nearly $47 million, and warned it may close its Massachusetts headquarters, eliminating about 150 jobs.