Sun Capital Buys Anchor Blue
Anchor Blue, the Ontario, Calif.–based retail chain that focuses on teens and jeans, brought in the new year with a new owner and a new president.
The new buyer is Sun Capital Partners, a Boca Raton, Fla.–based leveraged buy-out firm. The new president is Michael Bush, who is leaving his position as president and chief executive officer at Bally’s American division to run the 213 stores under the Anchor Blue banner.
Bush replaces Howard Gross as Anchor Blue’s president. The American Retail Group sold Anchor Blue for an undisclosed amount.
Anchor Blue originally started doing business as Millers Outpost in the early 1970s. In 1981, the company launched its own brand, Anchor Blue, which the company Web site states has two focuses: quality and reasonable prices.
The majority of Anchor Blue’s stores are located in the South and Midwest, but the Web site claims Anchor Blue plans to expand to the East Coast and become a national chain. The great majority of Anchor Blue’s apparel stock will be the company brand, but the stores will also sell other popular youth apparel brands, including Quiksilver, Vans and Skechers. —A.A.
