Style Poll: Allen Edmonds Sold. Are you worried?

JSOnline: Allen Edmonds sold; headquarters to stay in Port Washington

After the Men’s Wearhouse “scare” that had many of us reacting like this, something much more ho-hum has happened.

Upscale men’s shoemaker Allen Edmonds Shoe Corp., which was sought by multiple suitors, will be sold to a Los Angeles-based private equity firm and keep its headquarters in Port Washington, the company said Monday.

– The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The fact that a private equity firm is buying Allen Edmonds isn’t as eye-brow raising as some might think. Allen Edmonds was already owned by a private equity firm out of Minneapolis named Goldner Hawn Johnson Morrison. So one private equity firm sold Allen Edmonds to another private equity firm. And part of the deal is to keep the current CEO, Paul Grangaard, who used to be an executive with the previous firm before they purchased Allen Edmonds in 2006. Grangaard came on as AE CEO in 2008.

Got all that? So the guy who’s been running the show since 2008, used to work for the firm that bought Allen Edmonds in 2006, and now that another firm has purchased the company he’s still staying on board.

“It’s not only steady as she goes, it’s put the throttle down a little more.”

– Said Grangaard to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

But are changes on the horizon for Allen Edmonds? Well, they did just launch the beginnings of a clothing line, and The Journal Sentinel points out that they changed their slogan from “The Great American Shoe Company” to “An American Original.”

Hm. Missed that.