Florida's Carls Patio acquires San Diego store
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, May 8, 2005
Coconut Creek, Fla. — Carls Patio, part of the Top 100 store Carls, is jumping to the West Coast with the acquisition of the 18,000-square-foot Saddleback of San Diego patio store.
The Florida retailer formed a new corporation, Carl's Patio West, to acquire the retailer from owners Tony and Donna Stevens for an undisclosed amount. The Stevenses will retire, but Carls plans to continue using the Saddleback name, which has been in the market for more than 20 years.
Gary Ecoff, president of Carls Patio, called the purchase a "very rare opportunity. We saw so many similarities when we compared the Florida market with Southern California that it just seemed like a natural for us....
"It's just a clean gem of a business," Ecoff added. "The way they operate; their dedication to customers. They are good corporate citizens. It really aligns with our image."
He declined to say whether Carls has West Coast expansion plans beyond the Saddleback store.
The new West division will be led by Lyle Ecoff, a 20-year veteran of the patio industry and Gary Ecoff's brother. Carls credited Lyle Ecoff with starting competitor Robb & Stucky's patio division. More recently, he was a manufacturer's representative in the patio business.
The only major overlap in key suppliers between Carls Patio and Saddleback is Brown Jordan, and Gary Ecoff said it was too early to say whether either division is open to distribution changes as a result of the acquisition. Saddleback's other key suppliers include Tropitone, O.W. Lee and Jensen Jarrah.
With the acquisition, Carls operates 20 stores, primarily in southeast Florida, including nine patio showrooms. The company had sales last year of $128.3 million, up about 4% from the year before.
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