Tarrant Snaps Up Another Brand
Tarrant Apparel Group, which has recently been on a buying spree, has bought up another brand to break into the world of urban streetwear.
The Los Angeles company announced on June 10 that it acquired 75 percent of the rights to the Gear7 trademark through a joint venture with BrandHouse7, a Denver merchandise marketing company that sells Gear7 men’s and boys’ wear to 1,500 Kmart stores. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
BrandHouse7 and Tarrant will design, manufacture, distribute and sell Gear7 products to Kmart stores across the country. In addition they hope to develop international licensing opportunities.
Gerard Guez, founder and chief executive of Tarrant Apparel, was traveling out of the country and not available for comment.
In a press release he stated: “The acquisition of Gear7 allows us not only to expand further into the male apparel space but also to widen the reach of our products through availability in Kmart stores. In this way, we continue to build our private brands business by leveraging our apparel expertise as well as developing strong industry relationships.”
Tarrant Apparel hopes to expand the label to include womenswear and to develop additional contemporary urban lines for better department and specialty stores.
Chris Christmas, whose BrandHouse7 company developed Gear7 two years ago, will continue to be the creative developer behind the label and work with Tarrant’s design team.
Tarrant Apparel used to be a major blue jean manufacturer in Mexico that made private label goods for The Limited, Lane Bryant and J.C. Penney Co.
But recently the company has shifted gears, concentrating on building up its own stable of brands.
In April, Tarrant Apparel signed a licensing agreement with Cynthia Rowley to manufacture, market and distribute Cynthia Rowley branded jeans for women.
Last year, Guez purchased a 50 percent interest in the Los Angeles retailer American Rag and has a licensing agreement to use that name to develop branded clothing.
Tarrant is now selling American Rag merchandise to Federated Department Stores, parent company of Macy’s. Tarrant Apparel, founded in 1985, was once a high-flying company that was very profitable. But in recent years it has had a steady stream of financial losses. Last year the company had a net loss of $35.9 million on $320.4 million in revenues. From 2000 to 2002, the publicly traded company lost $11 million.
Part of that came from investing heavily in sewing plants and denim mills in Mexico. But after China became such an apparel powerhouse, Guez decided to switch gears last August and do about 90 percent of his production in Asia.
Instead of relying exclusively on retailers for his private-label orders, he is restructuring his company to market his own labels to department stores in the United States. —Deborah Belgum
