NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Legwear
& Apparel Company, LLC has announced the acquisition of The
Wheat Group Inc., the San
Diego-based company that designs, develops and distributes
accessories relating to sports and fashion. Product categories
include: bags; backpacks; hats and caps; knee-to-toe soccer gear
(shin guards, socks, and cleats); inflatable sports balls; small
electronic goods such as earbuds, headphones and Bluetooth
speakers; personal fitness equipment, and more.
Since 2011, The Wheat Group has been a licensee and joint
venture partner of PUMA North America; other licensed partners
include Skechers and Minecraft, and the company also has a
proprietary brand of premium bags and accessories called FOCUSED
SPACE.
Day-to-day creative design, product development, sourcing, and
marketing responsibilities will remain in San Diego, sales functions will be split
between bi-coastal showrooms in New
York and San Diego, and
financial operations will be absorbed by United Legwear &
Apparel Co.'s New York office.
Isaac E. Ash, Founder, President
and CEO of United Legwear & Apparel Co. (ULAC) explained his
strategy for the acquisition. "I've been impressed with The Wheat
Group's exceptional creative talent and design innovations; they
develop cutting-edge products," Ash said. "In addition,
accessories are an important part of the brands that ULAC manages;
we will leverage this synergy and offer retailers a broad
assortment of products that work together. ULAC will enable
retailers to efficiently procure lifestyle brand stories from a
single resource. Initial response has been tremendous, and we look
forward to a successful future."
Chad Grismer, co-founder of The
Wheat Group, said, "ULAC has built a dynamic business and retains a
fierce allegiance to quality, innovation and value. We've been
paralleling each other's efforts for quite some time (Puma JV
partner/Skechers licensee/etc). My brothers and I have always found
it interesting that there is this 'other' company out there serving
identical brands and markets in complimentary product categories.
The decision to combine was obvious, and together – as a full
service accessory company -- will prove to be faster, stronger, and
more valuable to our retail partners, licensors, and consumers.
We're proud to be part of this team."
A complete line of PUMA accessories (booth #620) as well as the
FOCUSED SPACE collection (booth #624) will be presented at Liberty
Fairs Las Vegas, February 15-17 at
the Sands Expo | Venetian.
About United Legwear & Apparel Company,
LLC.
United Legwear & Apparel Company is a dynamic,
New York City based global entity
that designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes legwear,
bodywear, apparel, and accessories to some of the world's leading
retailers. Founded in 1998 by Isaac E.
Ash, United Legwear & Apparel Co. (ULAC) is a joint
venture partner with PUMA North America, and also maintains
highly-recognized licensed brands such as Skechers, Happy Socks,
and Jonathan Adler, as well as
private-label brands across the legwear, apparel and accessories
segments, with product ranges from infant and toddler through
adults. Stratified distribution allows ULAC to leverage business
across all retail channels for brand partners, while the private
label programs offer well-engineered, right-priced products. ULAC's
mission is simple: to manufacture with integrity, and distribute
legwear, apparel, and accessories of highest quality and best
value. Visit www.unitedlegwear.com for more information.
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SOURCE United Legwear & Apparel Co.