Website closers® presents an established wholesale and eCommerce business that has stood the test of time. Founded in Missouri in 1947 and opening with a few machines and original designs, the founder began selling headwear locally. All these years later, B2B and D2C sales are. predominantly made through the website, an Amazon storefront, and a secondary Shopify-built website. The business is reputable and stable, having grown in strength to lead the market, attracting thousands of unique visitors every month.
The brand is a leading manufacturer of one-of-a-kind headwear. The exclusive hat brand began in the mid-20th century and has grown with innovation and dedication into what it is today. They have maintained their status as a world-renowned hat company with over 80 years of industry experience creating customized hats and collections.
The brand’s hats are fine pieces of headwear for any occasion under the sun—fashion, work, or play. As one of the most reputable hat makers in the business, they only use premium quality materials to create customized and unique products. Genuine leather, straw, wool, and other materials ensure the highest quality and comfort for a customer for years to come.
This business comes packed with SKUs, without heavy concentration of sales on any given product, and annual revenue and margins that are the envy of any entrepreneur. This seasoned business, however, does not suffer tremendously from seasonality in its sales.
The products sell yearly, peaking in summer and winter, with many repeat customers. International expansion, particularly in the eCommerce vertical, could see revenue increase during the slightly slower months and even double, with profits soaring as a result.
Wholesale customers can filter through styles, see pricing, and place orders with the company’s streamlined online purchasing platform. It provides accurate and intelligent information on each product, supplying luxury and everyday brands. Overall, the quality and customer satisfaction are evident with thousands of top-star reviews. The website gets strong organic traffic, boosted by a recently launched SEO program, which will continue to grow.
The inventory model means that stock of all products is maintained year-round, and the company also does some business for one-time products, which can be private label or custom-made hats. All contracts are billed monthly, and the brand enjoys a low churn rate of 5%. The selling price includes $1 million of inventory, which will give new ownership tremendous cash flow relief and, just as importantly, a streamlined and comfortable transition.
The existing owner is willing to stay on in some capacity based on the wants and needs of a buyer.
The industry has and will continue to be an incredibly lucrative one. The global apparel market is enormously profitable, as consumers with rising incomes tend to spend more online. The industry earned $1.5 trillion in 2021 and is projected to reach $2 trillion by 2026, with exceptionally high customer demand in the United States and China. Styles and fashions continue to evolve, and this company astutely brings out new ranges every year to keep up with trends and capitalize on repeat customers.
There is immense opportunity for a new owner to scale the operation and take this business in multiple directions. For example, an eCommerce expert with savvy marketing expertise could detonate sales in the D2C market while keeping the bread-and-butter wholesale accounts growing. Tapping into digital advertising is an obvious next step, and affiliate marketing and secondary sales channels can be implemented.
An owner with a strong network of buyers could exploit that sector with enormous licensing agreements and repeat business.
In contrast, somebody with expertise in the apparel sector would be ideally suited to maintain operations as they are.
The company employs a highly efficient and established full-time team of fifty employees that handle most tasks. The owner’s primary duties include:
- Negotiating with importers and selecting and designing new styles.
- Catalog design.
- Working with factory supervisors on any issues.
- Dealing with banks and insurance.
- Overseeing financials with the accounts team.
As one would expect from such a seasoned and well-respected company, this brand has established excellent supplier relationships. 50% of products are made in the USA, while the remainders are sourced from 12 factories and 50 suppliers across China, Italy, and Ecuador, to name a few.
As successful as the business is, they have not yet tapped into the industry’s colossal influencer marketing opportunities or focused much on paid social media advertising. Both options have shown a great return on investment with focused campaigns.
Their custom ranges boast an incredibly healthy average order value, both with wholesale clients and D2C sales. Based on the success of the existing licensing agreements, the likelihood is that those will grow with enormous profitability.
This business has the history, systems, customer base, and service values that consumers love and appreciate.
It is a potential moneymaking machine with new blood, ideas, and focus. Brands as successful and historic as this rarely come to market, and as a result, this is a desirable and iconic acquisition. New ownership can quickly enjoy tremendous success with this opportunity while scaling it to new levels in the modern era of commerce.
