Casual Male Retail Group on Tuesday said it bought seven Big and Tall men's stores in five states from privately held Dahle Management Corp.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Jeff Unger, vice president of investor relations for Casual Male, said the deal has already closed.
The stores are located near Salt Lake City; Billings, Mont.; Boise, Idaho; Phoenix; and Las Vegas. Casual Male, which operates Rochester Clothing stores in addition to its namesake chain, said the deal would expand its operations into 47 states, along with Canada and London.
Casual Male said it will keep the Dahle's employees in the stores it is buying.
Dahle's will remain the owner of the properties in question, and will become Casual Male's landlord at the seven locations.
Casual Male will also acquire Dahle's customer list from its Internet and catalog business, which will no longer be operated by Dahle's.
The transaction is expected to contribute to Casual Male's earnings in fiscal year 2009. The purchased stores, which have annual sales of about $5 million, will be converted to Casual Male XL brand stores by the holiday season, the company said.
In an interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press, David Levin, chief executive of Casual Male, said that the acquisition of the Big & Tall stores allows for an "easy entry" into new markets that the company hasn't penetrated.
Levin added that the online division, which includes such new online sites as LivingXL and ShoesXL, however, has been the company's fastest growing area, accounting for about 20 percent of overall revenue. LivingXL sells lifestyle products for both women and men ranging from extra large bike seats to extra large towels.
Casual Male is also pursuing expansion internationally. In August, Casual Male will be launching online sites for both the Casual Male XL and Rochester Big & Tall brands in six European countries: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The company operates one store overseas, in London.
Dahle's will liquidate its eight other stores and close them by January, according to Casual Male. A representative for the Murray, Utah-based company could not be immediately reached early Tuesday.
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On the Net:
http://www.shoesxl.com
http://www.livingxl.com
(This version CORRECTS the address of the LivingXL Web site.)
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