Haggar Clothing Co. Sold to New York-based Randa Accessories

Haggar Clothing Co., a Dallas-based men's apparel maker since 1926, has been sold to Randa Accessories, a New York-based company also with a long history.Haggar, which had sales of more than $500 million last year, will continue to operate with its 400 employees in its Dallas headquarters and Fort Worth distribution center.Michael Stitt, Haggar CEO is staying on to run Haggar, which has been owned by a Taiwan-based conglomerate since 2005 when it was sold by Dallas' Haggar family.Haggar has grown market share in recent years, but to expand further, Stitt said,"it could benefit from the leadership, resources, expertise and marketing of a company like Randa.Haggar and Randa overlap in retail customers that they supply, but each also has new contacts to bring to the other, Stitt said in an interview Tuesday.Randa is more of a strategic partnership, he said, while its longtime owners have viewed Haggar as an investment.Terms of the sale to Randa weren't disclosed. The transaction is expected to close on May 31. Randa has been in the accessories business since 1910. It makes men's belts, wallets, hats, luggage, slippers, neckties, jewelry for almost 50 national brands such as Levis, Columbia Sportswear, Kenneth Cole, Williamson Dickies and Tommy Hilfiger.Haggar sells to J.C. Penney, Kohl's, Macy's, Target and Belk among others and it operates 80 Haggar stores. Together the two companies will have revenue of more than $1 billion."This transaction brings together two successful, financially strong and complementary businesses to better serve our retail and brand partners, our associates and our consumers," Jeffrey Spiegel, CEO of Randa said in a statement.Twitter: @MariaHalkias  Continue reading...