SPARC
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Retail
Joint venture between Simon Property Group, a retail real estate company and Authentic Brands Group, a brand development company. SPARC stands for Simon Property Authentic Retail Concepts.
Company Ownership
SPARC Group LLC | USA | website | ||||
Simon Property Group Inc ![]() owns 50% of SPARC Group LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Real estate investment trust The largest owner of shopping malls in the United States. | ||||||
Authentic Brands Group LLC ![]() owns 50% of SPARC Group LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Brand development and licensing Purchases brands in the sports, celebrity and fashion categories and licenses the intellectual property to leading retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers worldwide. Acquired Juicy Couture in 2013, Tretorn in 2015 and Nautica and Nine West in 2018. Bought Van Heusen, Arrow and Izod from PVH, and Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Acquired Ted Baker in 2022 and Boardriders in 2023. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes. | ||||||
BlackRock Inc ![]() owns 30% of Authentic Brands Group LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Asset management World's largest asset manager, with about $7 trillion in assets under management. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
SPARC Group LLC | ||||
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2021) |
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands. The 2021 Laundering Cotton report investigates how forced-labour-produced cotton and cotton-based goods from the Uyghur Region wend their way into international supply chains of well-known international clothing brands, including brands owned by this company.
Source: Sheffield Hallam University (2021)
SPARC Group is a joint venture between Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group, both of which have criticisms in the Shop Ethical database.
Source: Shop Ethical (2020) |
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.
Source: BHRRC (2022) |
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Simon Property Group Inc | ||||
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change Score of A-.
Source: CDP (2022)
America's Most Responsible Companies 2022 by Newsweek and Statista recognises the Top 500 most responsible companies in the United States. Companies were evaluated in three areas: environmental (waste, energy use, etc.), social (leadership diversity, employees and philanthropy) and governance (transparency and economic performance). This company received a total score of 72.3/100, ranking 16th in the Real Estate & Housing sector, and 263rd overall.
Source: Newsweek (2021) |
In 2017 Simon Property Group agreed to stop anticompetitive tactics that blocked competition from new outlet centers in New York City, and pay US$945,000 to settle a lawsuit with the New York Attorney General. Simon's anticompetitive conduct blocked competition and drove up prices for New York consumers.
Source: New York Attorney General (2017)
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 34/100 in the Real Estate category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022)
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2023 rankings JUST Capital asked a representative sample of 3,002 Americans to compare 20 different business Issues on a head-to-head basis, producing a reliable hierarchy of Issues ranked in order of priority. Issues are organised under the headings Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, or Shareholders & Governance. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 761st of 951 companies, and 31st of 44 Real Estate companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2023) |
This company has the low score of 20% on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2021)
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$62,457. The CEO was paid 166 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)
This company has sustainability claims on its website in the four key areas of Customers, Communities, Environment and Employees.
Source: company website (2021)
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
Source: Open Secrets (2020) |
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Authentic Brands Group LLC | ||||
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands, including brands owned by this company.
Source: ITUC (2020)
In 2019 US private equity giant BlackRock bought roughly a 30% stake in this company. BlackRock has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical (2019) |
Company Details
Type | Joint venture |
Revenue | 7.2 billion USD (2020) |
Employees | 26,500 (2020) |
Subsidiaries | Forever 21 Inc ![]() Youth fashion Founded in California in 1984 by CEO Don Chang and his wife. About 60% of its apparel is manufactured in China. Operates about 500 retail stores around the world. Filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and acquired by Authentic Brands Group, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners in 2020. Forever 21 entered Australia in 2014, but left in 2017. Eddie Bauer LLC ![]() Clothing retail Acquired in 2021 by SPARC Group, a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group. |
Contact Details
Address | USA |
Website | www.sparcgroup.com |
Products / Brands
SPARC
Brooks Brothers Menswear (formal) Lucky Brand Denim Nautica Outdoor Wear |
Forever 21
Forever 21 Youth Fashion |
Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer Outdoor Wear |