Penguin Brands is doing its part in the continued consolidation of the industry, closing a deal last week that sees the owner of the Penguin Shoe Care, Penguin Apparel Care, Sorbothane, and ProArc product lines acquire the assets of Nathan Performance. Nathan is primarily known for its reflective products, but now also does about 50% of its business in hydration products.
The all cash deal closed last Monday and “strategically positions” Penguin to be a ” key running accessory resource”, according to Jon Reichlin, Penguin president and CEO. He pointed to the fact that the product lines of the two companies dovetail perfectly and that distribution is similar for both. Penguin sees providing a Running Accessory Center at the big box retailers while providing the running specialty guys with one stop shop for accessories.
Reichlin told SEW that Michael Nathan, the founder of the company that started out pitching shoe pockets, does not yet have a formalized role with the new company, but said it will be “more than a transitional role”. Reichlin said sales responsibility for the Nathan products would roll into the existing Penguin sales organization.
SEW asked Reichlin if he saw getting into the sock business to complete the package, noting the proliferation in performance sock offerings in the market. Reichlin had a very simple response as to why he plans to leave that business to the hosiery companies.
“We did a private label program with Ridgeview a million years ago,” said Reichlin. “We quickly discovered that the last thing the world needed is another sock line”
