K-Swiss in Deal for New Line of Shoes

Athletic shoemaker K-Swiss Inc., known for its canvas and leather tennis shoes, announced plans Tuesday to branch into the adventure-oriented market, producing and distributing a collection of National Geographic-licensed footwear.

After months of negotiations, the company formed a joint venture with footwear designer Rugged Shark of Lighthouse Point, Fla., to launch a full-scale line of outdoor and casual men’s, women’s and children’s shoes.

Westlake Village-based K-Swiss expects the shoes to be on store shelves by next spring, with some styles available this fall.

This marks a leap into chain-store marketing for the National Geographic Society, a nonprofit scientific and educational institution that in the last year has begun heavily licensing its product name, according to Liz Gehman, a society spokeswoman.

Clothing, maps, books and camera equipment with the society’s yellow rectangular trademark have been sold mostly online and by catalog. The new footwear line will be available at sporting goods stores, department stores and outdoor-oriented shops.

Under terms of the deal, K-Swiss will own 75% of the new venture and will license, make and sell the National Geographic line, which will include about 100 styles of shoes.

Rugged Shark, which specializes in active footwear design, will own 25%. Over the next 15 months, K-Swiss expects to incur expenses of $1 million, or 10 cents a share, related to the venture.

“This venture will help us branch out into new footwear designs,” said Steven Nichols, K-Swiss president. “National Geographic is a high-quality brand known for exploration and research. Together we can bridge performance and lifestyle.”

Shares of K-Swiss, which had sales of $221.6 million last year, fell 3 cents to finish at $24.79 Tuesday on Nasdaq.