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The race to get a grip on the athletic footwear and sporting goods retail landscape continues.

On Tuesday, U.K.-based sneaker retailer JD Sports revealed its plans to acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based retailer Hibbett. The acquisition is JD’s latest move to make inroads in the hyper-competitive U.S. retail landscape, which began in March 2018 when it announced the acquisition of Finish Line for $558 million.

Currently, JD Sports has a fleet of 3,400 stores in 32 countries, and is continuing to expand. Its primary competitors in the U.S. are Foot Locker Inc., which operates 2,600 retail stores in 26 countries, and Dick’s Sporting goods, which has more than 850 doors between all of its banners.

Below is a breakdown of the banners JD Sports, Foot Locker Inc. and Dick’s Sporting Goods owns.

JD Sports

• In March 2018, JD Sports announced the acquisition of Finish Line for $558 million.
• In December 2020, JD Sports announced its acquisition of Shoe Palace Corp. for $325 million.
• DTLR was acquired by JD Sports in February 2021 for $495 million.
• JD Sports announced plans to acquire Hibbett in April 2024, and stated the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

Dick’s Sporting Goods

• Dick’s Sporting Goods agreed to buy Golf Galaxy in November 2006 for $225 million, and the acquisition was finalized in February 2007.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods announced in November 2020 that it would enter the outdoor category with Public Lands. The first store opened in Cranberry Township, Pa., in September 2021.
• In April 2021, the retailer revealed a new store concept, House of Sport, replete with “multisport experiences.”
• Dick’s announced its off-price debut in May 2021 with Going, Going, Gone!, as well as its Dick’s Sporting Goods Warehouse Sale store format.
• In February 2023, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced the acquisition of outdoor retailer Moosejaw from Walmart. The terms were not disclosed.

Foot Locker Inc.

• Champs Sports and Kids Foot Locker are subsidiaries of Foot Locker Inc. In June 2022, Foot Locker Inc. merged the Eastbay.com retail website into the Champs Sports banner, in line with its plan to consolidate the two banners that began in 2019.
• Foot Locker Inc. announced in August 2021 the acquisition of WSS (Eurostar Inc.) for $750 million and Atmos (Text Trading Company K.K.) for $360 million, both cash deals. (In October 2023, the company confirmed with FN that it was closing Atmos’ three U.S. stores and focus on Japan.)

Jian DeLeon and Noah Thomas love mules.

From what started out as a fun podcast idea when they both worked at Highsnobiety, the duo’s Muleboyz project has since amassed an audience of nearly 44,000 Instagram followers and has brought in multiple brand collaborations in just a few short years.

Indeed, the menswear industry’s go-to mule experts – who frequently work with brands like Birkenstock and Lusso Cloud – have given the term “side hustle” a new meaning; often merging their love of mules into their “day jobs.”

This was notably seen when Birkenstock released an exclusive Muleboyz blue colorway of its popular Boston model at Nordstrom in the summer of 2022, followed by a green colorway for the retailer last summer. (DeLeon is the men’s fashion director at Nordstrom. Thomas also works in the industry as the associate fashion director for men’s and kids at Macy’s.)

MuleBoyz exclusive blue colorway of the Birkestock Boston for Nordstrom. BRIAN BILLS

The duo’s rise in popularity also makes sense given the increased interest in mules for men over the last few years. According to recent data from Circana’s Retail Tracking Service, sales for men’s mules and clogs totaled $492.6 million in 2023. The retail analytics firm also noted that sales are being driven by more premium price point brands like Birkenstock and Ugg with their key mule and clog items. These styles are also gender neutral and are driving the category for women as well, Circana added.

Here, FN catches up with DeLeon and Thomas to discuss the story behind creating Muleboyz, trends in the category, their holy grail mules and how to style the popular model for beginners.

FN: How did you come up with the Muleboyz concept?

Jian DeLeon: We started Muleboyz when we were both at Highsnobiety. We had a podcast there, and we were just trying to find ways to promote it.

Noah Thomas: We came up with the idea when we were on an elevator. I was wearing my first pair of Birkenstocks, the one’s where they collaborated with 032c, and I was wearing those all around the office. You [Jian] had on the Gucci River mules, and you just started yelling ‘mule boys’.

JD: Once we started people began sending us photos of them wearing different mules. A lot of feet photos with the Muleboyz hashtag. Yeah, guys started sending us photos of their feet in mules, and I guess that’s better than the regular feet photos without shoes.

NT: So, our social media presence started as a story highlight and we kept getting so many pictures, we just decided to launch an account. And we just started posting religiously every single day.

JD: Well, I think COVID helped with the adoption of mules as a go-to shoe. For people going on that bodega run or those times you would just leave the house to go get groceries. You leave a pair by the door and they’re very useful. All the brands started to take notice, too. Countless brands started to chop the heel off of their shoes.

NT: There’s always an item that menswear adopts that’s been around forever. Men get excited about these items like they’re brand new and I think we kind of jumped on mules right before it became that item.

FN: What is your go-to mule by the door?

JD: Birkenstock Bostons, Crocs Dylan, the 3sixteen collab we did, the Lusso Clouds.

NT: The Lusso Cloud collab that we did are by my door all the time. Keens are also a nice addition to keep by the door, and I’d also add the Birkenstock Boston forever.

JD: I also keep a pair of LVs by the door too. Louis Vuitton made some nice mules starting with the Nigo collab they did with Virgil [Abloh], and I still have a pair of monograms – I wear those regularly. They’re my flight mules.

FN: What trends stand out in the mule world right now?

JD: There’s a tactical mule thing happening right now that can be seen in the Crocs collab with Beams, and Nicole McLaughlin’s tie-up with Merrell on the Moc Speed 1TRL.

NT: I also like how mules are becoming very light. That made mules a bit more accessible to the average wearer that were concerned with how heavy and clunky they used to be sometimes. So now mules are becoming a lot more lightweight by using EVA or that Extralight sole.

JD: Almost every luxury brand has some version of that molded shoe like the Fear of God California.

NT: That kind of set the category off. I mean Crocs has been around forever and is a bit of a ‘godfather’ in the category. But what actually got the fashion world on its toes immediately, I would say, is the Fear of God California mule. Then that mixed with Salehe [Bembury] doing the Croc made people want to actually spend resale prices on something that wasn’t a sneaker. That’s when everything went crazy.

FN: What have been some surprising releases in the mule world?

NT: The Dior x Birkenstock collab and the Manolo x Birkenstock collab.

JD: The Dior Birkenstock came out of nowhere. There’s been a lot of great collaborations but also in-line at brands like Toga Virilis, which is doing some interesting styles with a big western style buckle.

NT: Also, to see Nike bring back the Clogposite, clearly, they were seeing the demand for the category for Nike to bring it back. That was exciting.

JD: It’s also exciting to see what Ugg has been doing, too. Like the Gallery Dept. collaboration came out of nowhere and they’ve done some great collabs with Denim Tears what were nice.

NT: Those are grails – the Denim Tears x Ugg mules inspired by Tremaine Emory’s great grandmother’s Black Seminole heritage were incredible.

Q: What are some of the greatest mules of all time?

NT: The Birkenstock A630 and A640 mule that’s more of a chef or gardening shoe, that’s the best shoe in the world to me. It goes with absolutely everything. Also, the Hermès clog, the Birkenstock Boston is forever, the Crocs Dylan and the Marni Fussbett. Marni’s Fussbett was one of the first commercially successful styles in the designer space. The green gives very Grinch energy, which I love.

JD: JW Anderson really led the charge in designer mules as well. He started with a lot of loafer takes and the exaggerated chains, followed by the collab with Wellipets on the frog mules. Martine Rose is definitely up there. Not only with her in-line mules with the square toe, but also the collab she did with Nike where she did the Shox with the heeled mule. Those were so good.

NT: Salehe also changed the game. I’m sure Crocs is very happy.

Q: What clogs do you predict will be popular this spring and summer?

JD: Birkenstock 1774’s new 222 West model as well as the main line Tokio. I want to get my hands on those. Also, Martine Rose and her Clarks collaboration, the next one is about to come out with a mule. At.Kollektive, Ecco’s experimental line, should also be watched as well.

NT: Uggs, too. They are making other models and more of a slip on with a rubber footbed, the clog energy is strong.

FN: What advice do you have for guys that only wear sneakers and are interested in trying out mules for the first time?

JD: The Birkenstock Boston is the gateway into the mule world.

NT: I would say the Birkenstock Boston is very much like wearing a raw denim where it’s going to take a little bit of time for you to break it in and for the shoe to mold to your foot. So, I can see how that might be hard to get used to, but some sneakers are not comfortable either. So you just kind of have to get used to it.

JD: But there are also mule-sneaker hybrids. New Balance probably did it the best. They have the 2002R model and the 990 version that looks super sleek. Even Junya Watanabe and Comme des Garçons have upcoming collaborations with New Balance. The Junya collab is more of a loafer, but Comme des Garçons has more of a slip-on coming as well.

NT: And not to keep plugging, but Lusso Cloud as a brand is great. Even they’re whole brand mantra is a ‘cloud.’ I would even try those first as a entry into mules.