Arklyz, owner of the athletic specialty footwear and lifestyle retailer, The Athlete’s Foot (TAF) acquired the Baltimore-based sneaker and streetwear lifestyle retail chain Shoe City, along with online platform www.ycmc.com.

Arklyz Group will add the Shoe City banner to the TAF organization with the primary goal for each business to expand and thrive from economies of scale while continuing as leaders in the athletic specialty footwear and lifestyle category. The acquisition will add 40 more store locations with an expanded retail presence in the DMV region (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) to already existing TAF locations.

Param Singh, owner and CEO of Arklyz Group has appointed Matthew Lafone, President & General Manager of the Americas, to now oversee both businesses.

According to Arklyz, TAF and Shoe City’s have "aligned values for a deep local community engagement and commitment to supporting their loyal customers in underserved neighbourhoods", which justifies the business. In addition, Shoe City’s has a local heritage in Maryland where the business started with one location in Baltimore in 1949. Adding online platform www.ycmc.com into the portfolio is also seen as a "go-to destination for the industry’s latest sneaker release".