While the post-COVID comedown has negatively impacted many brands, Reef appears to be avoiding those headwinds, according to CEO Gregg Ribatt and President Mike Jensen.
“We had our third year in a row of mid-double-digit growth,” Jensen told SESO at Surf Expo.
The growth is coming from every channel as the brand has broadened its assortment beyond black and brown three-point sandals, Ribatt said.
“We are trying to be more meaningful for our partners across the brand,” he said.
The success of the Reef Vista Hi has propelled the women’s business, and men’s sandals have also performed well. But the biggest change may be the growing shoe business in both men’s and women’s that has moved Reef beyond a four-month-a-year brand.
“We have now established ourselves in shoes – lightweight, easy, comfortable, casual shoes,” Jensen said. “We hang them in surf shops and we box them for some of the bigger retailers. We crank them out of reef.com, so the Reef loyalist has really voted for the shoes.”
Jensen said Reef has largely kept its distribution the same – thus the growth is coming from Reef getting more shelf space with existing partners now that it has expanded the product offering.
Reef men’s shoes at Surf Expo. Photo by SESO.
Adding C-Suite Marketing and Creative Talent
Since former owner VF Corp. sold Reef in 2018, Reef has thus far been mostly focused on refining and improving its product engine under new owner, private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners. During the second half of 2024, Reef made several hires in marketing as it looks to ramp up brand storytelling.
Brianna Showell joined in November as the new vice president of marketing. Showell spent 17 years at Nike in a variety of marketing and product roles. Most recently, she served as VP of marketing at Prana.
Rob Teague, formerly VP of global creative at Vans, joined Reef as head of brand creative in December.
“Brianna has an incredible background in product and brand and has a GM mindset,” Jensen said. “And Rob is an exceptional creative talent. Those two pieces fitting together and what they bring to the team – we’re really excited about what ’25 and ’26 can become from a brand storytelling and product marketing standpoint.”
New Reef VP of Marketing Brianna Showell. Photo by SESO.
Under the new ownership, Reef is also doing a lot of research to understand its consumers and plot the path forward.
“We continue to invest really heavily in consumer and strategy,” Ribatt said. “Last summer, we did a deep dive to refresh our consumer work – we have a dedicated strategy team, which is unusual for company our size.”
New Reef Head of Brand Creative Rob Teague. Photo courtesy of Reef.
Building on the Vista Hi and Fanning
Some key new Reef styles include the Water Vista Higher, a waterproof, high platform iteration of the Vista Hi that was the No. 1 seller on Reef.com for a few weeks when introduced, which customers can dress up or down.
The Reef Water Vista Higher. Photo by SESO.
The Fanning sandal, Reef’s most popular style for years, is now expanding into shoes, complete with a bottle opener on the bottom. That will hit the market around Memorial Day.
“It’s a super comfortable shoe, and takes color really well,” Jensen said. “We think it’s going to be huge for us.”
The Reef Fanning shoe will debut around Memorial Day – and yes, it has a bottle opener on the bottom.
As he surveyed the Reef booth at Surf Expo, Jensen said what Reef has accomplished from a product standpoint the past few years is evident. Now, he’s excited to turn up the marketing dial as well.
“This does not look like a beach, flip-flop brand anymore,” Jensen said. “We have invited more consumers into this brand in a really democratic way through product and pretty good storytelling. Now the storytelling is about to become awesome, and I’d put our product engine against anybody in the business right now.”
