Sklar Peppler buys upholstery maker Alan White
Will restart production within days
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2007
SHANNON, Miss. — Upholstery maker Alan White, which closed last week citing financial and business pressures, has been purchased by Canadian company Sklar Peppler and is expected to be back in production within days.
Bill Malisch, the turnaround expert who restructured upholstery maker and case goods source Sklar, said he signed a letter a letter of intent with officials of Alan White Thursday to buy the company and its 350,000-square-foot manufacturing operation here. The announcement was made to the company’s 300 employees and many of its customers later in the day.
Financial details were not disclosed.
“We made calls to our suppliers and the game plan is for opening back up by the end of next week,” Malisch said. He said the company expected to be in full operation in the following week.
Malisch, who owns several companies in Canada, restructured operations at Sklar and gained the support of its creditors to keep one of Canada’s best-known furniture manufacturers in business. The company has invested in equipment, processes and technology to expand capacity, improve productivity and ensure cost competitiveness.
The company has factories in Toronto, Canada and Portland, Ore., and was looking for a Southern location when Alan White became available. In a whirlwind courtship, Malisch flew to Mississippi and within a couple of days the deal was done.
Alan White is known for midpriced upholstery, which it sells to Top 100 accounts.
“Alan White has a great customer profile, great accounts,” Malisch said. “We want to keep key accounts and expand it from there. There is a lot of growth opportunity. We want to stabilize it and continue going forward.”
Malisch will be president of Alan White. Keith Feuerhaken, vice president, sales and marketing for Sklar, will head the separate Alan White sales force. Before joining Sklar, Feuerhaken was executive vice president of Alan White.
Malisch said one thing that appealed to him was that both companies had a great name in the industry. He said each company will continue to keep its own identity, although the two showrooms in High Point — both in the Furniture Plaza — may operate more closely with one another.
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Alan White to reopen
Feb 18, 2007
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