Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Quiksilver Inc. three years ago tested the waters on a running shoe brand it’s now hoping to sell off to two former executives.
The company said in court documents, filed Tuesday, it would like to sell what remains of a brand called Ampla, which it began developing in early 2013. It also disclosed in its filing that it entered into a purchase agreement Monday to sell Ampla for $200,000 to former Americas president Rob Colby, who left earlier this year, and former chief legal officer Charles Exon, who parted ways with the company roughly a year ago.
It’s unclear under whose executive leadership the brand was developed. Former Nike and Disney veteran Andy Mooney in January 2013 was appointed chief executive officer of Quiksilver, succeeding founder Bob McKnight. It was the hope that Mooney would bring a fresh perspective to the struggling company and he was swift in implementing a number of tactics that included stockkeeping-unit count reduction, the selloff of smaller brands and efforts to globalize the executive team. However, Mooney was dismissed earlier this year. Quiksilver filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early September.
The running shoe was developed with what the company described in court documents as having a carbon fiber plate in the sole and said it filed multiple trademark applications for the Ampla name and logo, along with patents on the technology in the shoe’s sole.
Some 2,000 pairs were produced but never sold. The company did not say in its filing why development was halted on Ampla.
The brand was apparently enough to garner interest from a few parties. Colby and Exon partnered to purchase the company in July. About a month later Rhone Athletic Apparel and Breakaway also contacted Quiksilver about a possible purchase. Talks with Rhone and Breakaway involved initial conversations before those broke off.
