California Apparel News

Los Angeles–based investment firm The Gores Group is selling Scovill Fasteners to Morito, a 106-year-old Osaka, Japan–based supplier of apparel fasteners and components for automobiles.

Founded in 1802, Clarkesville, Ga.–based Scovill makes specialty fasteners for a wide range of industries, including apparel, medical, military and sporting goods.

The Gores Group purchased Scovill in June 2011, in the midst of an apparel-related buying spree that started in 2010 with J. Mendel, maker of fur coats and high-end dresses, and included Big Strike Inc., a Los Angeles juniors company, and Mexx, a European and Canadian retailer once owned by Liz Claiborne Inc. The spree concluded in 2012 with the purchase of a stake in Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent.

According to the company, during its ownership, The Gores Group, with Scovill CEO Craig Stoudt and CFO Gary Reinert, implemented several improvements to the company “with a particular focus on creating a culture of operational excellence utilizing philosophies of lean and kaizen.”

“I am excited that we are entering into this relationship with Morito, and I believe this recognizes the significant progress made and value created by our company. This begins the next chapter for our organization,” said Stoudt in a company statement. “We will have greater resources available to further accelerate growth opportunities, which in turn will benefit our employees, customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders.”