G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (New York), the leather jacket manufacturer, has acquired Wilsons the Leather Expert Inc. (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) for $22.3 million.
The company will be renamed PreVu Inc. and headed by former Wilson’s ceo Joel Waller. Waller had been ceo of The Wet Seal Inc. (Foothills Ranch, Calif.) until stepping down in September 2007. It will remain headquartered in the Minneapolis area. The core of the deal is the 116-unit outlet store chain Wilsons currently operates. Not included in the transaction are about 100 Wilsons mall stores and a limited number of airport kiosk operations.
The outlet stores will carry a mixture of private-label and closeout goods, said G-III chief operating officer Wayne Miller. “This is a great way to hit the ground running,” Miller said. “We¹ve wanted to be in the retail business for some time. It¹s a great marriage for us to get into the business.”
G-III is best known for the sportswear and outwear it produces under various labels, such as Andrew Marc, G-III, Marvin Richards, Black Rivet, Winlit, Siena Studio and La Nouvelle Renaissance. It also has licensing deals with Calvin Klein, Sean John, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger and others.
“Through carefully segregating our retail assortment from our wholesale offerings, we believe we can reenergize the Wilsons outlet stores under our direction without conflict to our existing customer base,² said G-III chairman and ceo Morris Goldfarb. “We expect to be able to seamlessly create a vertical retail organization and move quickly to realize the benefits of that structure.”
Wilson¹s has struggled with strategic changes and the same weak economy that has plagued most retailers. It also never recovered from the acquisition of a travel retail operation just prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which cut deeply into the travel business. Earlier this year, it announced plans to close 160 stores.