Alliance to absorb Totes Isotoner. Marquee Brands, owner of brands such as Ben Sherman, BCBG and Martha Stewarthas partnered with Randa Apparel & Accessories, the largest accessories manufacturer in the United States, to acquire Totes Isotoner, a company specialized in accessories such as umbrellas, gloves and seasonal footwear.
The financial terms are unknown, but as published WWDMarquee acquired the company’s intellectual property and Randa purchased the operating assets, including inventory and facilities, and will license the intellectual property to Marquee to design, manufacture and distribute the products.
For Randa, which is currently one of the main operators in the category of accessories such as belts, wallets and ties, the agreement means entering new categories, such as umbrellas, and expanding gloves, in addition to entering new points of sale, since Totes Isotoner has a large presence in the medicine and grocery channel, where Randa has historically never been present.
Besides, The acquisition allows Marquee and Randa to expand their presence outside the United Statessince Totes Isotoner has a strong presence in Europe and other countries.
Marque and Randa seek to expand their presence outside the United States after the purchase
The current company is a merger of two historical companies. Totes has its origin in 1924, in Oakley, a neighborhood of Cincinnati, and his best-known product is rubber rain boots which he called “totes” to emphasize how portable they were. The company introduced the first folding umbrella in 1970 and expanded its offerings to scarves, hats, bags and rain socks.
Isotoner is even older, it was founded in 1918when French glove maker Paul Chanut and American glove reseller Larry Stanton teamed up to create Aris Glove Co. The company developed the first stretch nylon/elastane glove with leather straps and called it the Isotoner.
The company was purchased by Sara Lee and its name changed to Aris-Isotoner. It merged with Totes, which by then had been bought by Bain Capital, in 1997. It changed hands a couple of times before being bought by Investcorp and Freeman Spogli in 2014. Five years later, the company was acquired by several of its lenders.
