VF Corporation, parent company of Vans, The North Face, and Timberland, announced Monday it will sell the Dickies workwear brand to Bluestar Alliance LLC for $600 million in cash as VF continues its turnaround efforts.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025. VF Corp., which acquired Dickies in 2017 for $820 million, has been working to stabilize its business following recent struggles across several key brands. Dickies, the iconic workwear company founded in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1922, has reported declining revenues and operational challenges over the past several years. The brand last reported full-year growth in the year ended April 2, 2022, when revenue increased 19% to $837.7 million.
Dickies’ revenue has been declining double digits since then, including in the most recent fiscal year ended March 29, 2025, when revenue dropped 12% to $542.1 million compared to fiscal 2024.
VF executives said on the company’s earnings call in July that Dickies’ revenue decline in the first quarter of the current fiscal year had “moderated significantly.”
During that earnings call in July, VF Corp. CEO Bracken Darrell emphasized that the company remained committed to Dickies despite the brand’s challenges.
“…We continue to be excited about and committed to growing the Dickies brand,” Darrell said at the time. “Our new Brand President, Chris Goble, has made an excellent start to resetting the brand since joining last October and is already executing on the strategy he introduced at Investor Day in March, the leadership team he rebuilt. We believe the brand has significant growth potential under Chris’s leadership.”
In a statement announcing the sale to Bluestar, Darrell said the Dickies sale will boost VF’s balance sheet.
“Dickies is an iconic American workwear brand with a bright future, and I am confident that under Bluestar Alliance’s ownership, it will continue to improve and realize its significant growth potential,” he said. “As I’ve said before, we continuously evaluate our portfolio, and this transaction will enable us to bring our net debt level down and will be accretive to our growth on a pro-forma basis.”
Dickies’ Recent Move from Texas to California
VF announced plans to move Dickies’ headquarters from Fort Worth, Texas, to Costa Mesa, Calif., last year where it co-located with Vans’ operations. The move also led to a workforce reduction of approximately 120 employees. The company stated this relocation would “help revitalize Dickies” and create opportunities for collaboration and best practice sharing.
Goble was appointed brand president of Dickies in October 2024 as part of ongoing leadership changes. In August, Darrell acknowledged that Dickies had expanded its lifestyle offerings too rapidly while moving away from its core workwear strengths.
It is unclear what happens to the Dickies leadership team and employees now that Bluestar will move Dickies to a licensing model.
Bluestar Alliance’s Growing Portfolio
Bluestar Alliance manages a portfolio of over 500 licensees and operates more than 500 stores across North America, Europe, Australia, South America, Asia, the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East, and India.
The company’s current brand portfolio includes Hurley, Palm Angels, Off-White, Scotch & Soda, Brookstone, Bebe, and Tahari, among others.
Joseph Gabbay, CEO of Bluestar Alliance, expressed confidence in Dickies’ potential under new ownership.
“Since 1922, Dickies has provided hard-wearing, long-lasting and comfortable clothes, cementing its status as a storied brand in performance workwear,” Gabbay said. “We have followed the brand for many years and have a deep appreciation for its history and legacy, which VF Corporation has successfully begun to rebuild over the past few years. We are committed to supporting the Dickies brand’s growth by leveraging our consumer insights and operational excellence to unlock its full value for all stakeholders.”
VF Corp.’s Debt and Financial Targets
VF Corp. expects to use proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt, which has been a key focus of the company’s turnaround strategy.
In the first quarter ended June 28, VF reported its net debt declined by $1.4 billion, or 20%, versus last year. As of June 2025, the company’s liabilities totaled $8.8 billion.
At an investor day last November, VF committed to achieving specific financial targets by fiscal year 2028, including an adjusted operating margin of at least 10% and net leverage of 2.5 times or below.
VF Corporation has been actively reshaping its portfolio while focusing on its strongest performing brands. In 2024, VF sold Supreme to EssilorLuxottica. It sold Eagle Creek to former VF executive Travis Campbell in 2021. VF brands The North Face and Timberland have shown positive momentum in recent quarters, while Vans continues to face challenges requiring focused turnaround efforts.
The deal is pending regulatory approval and satisfaction of standard closing conditions. Both companies indicated they would provide additional details about transition plans and brand strategies later this year.
Kate Robertson can be reached at kate@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
