One of California’s Oldest and Most Beloved Brands Revisits a Public Offering

It’s the first time the company will be traded since the ’70s.

Iconic California brand Levi’s went public in early March, a fresh move for a 165-year-old company with roots in the Gold Rush era. However, this isn’t the first time the San Francisco-based operation listed its shares on the market. Back in the ’70s, Levi’s also went public, but that ended when the descendants of founder Levi Strauss, the Hass family, took the company back and made it private. Having revived the brand over the following decades, the family is expected to collect most of the proceeds of the $500 million to $675 million stock sale and hold 80% of the voting shares post-offering, according to the New York Times.

“The listing is a milestone for Levi’s, which has experienced a resurgence in the past decade, overhauling its image, operations and the stretch in its jeans to resonate with today’s shoppers who are increasingly disposed to athleisure wear.

“Levi’s, some say, might even be cool again.

“’It took them time but they’ve been able to restore a lot of brand equity,’ said Marie Driscoll, a managing director who covers fashion and luxury at Coresight Research. ‘They have their authentic product that they’ve been making forever but adapted to what consumers want today.’”

You can read more about Levi’s history, revival and how the company navigates an evolving retail landscape here.