No. 1 headwear brand in golf purchases belt-maker
BOURBON, Missouri – Imperial, the No. 1 golf headwear brand in the combined on and off course retail channels as recently reported by Golf Datatech and voted No. 1 headwear brand by the Association of Golf Merchandisers (AGM), announced recently the acquisition of J.T. Spencer, an American belt manufacturer based in Richmond, Virginia.
J.T. Spencer is the official belt licensee of Peter Millar and operates Peter Millar’s custom logo green grass belt program.
Imperial also reported the extension of the belt license with Peter Millar to add to its existing T-shirt license with Peter Millar. Going forward Imperial will continue offering custom logo embroidered and ChromaCrown Peter Millar belts and accessories, as well as custom logo Peter Millar T-shirts, through Peter Millar sales representatives.
“Peter Millar has had a great relationship over the years with both Imperial and J.T. Spencer,” said Todd Martin, President of Peter Millar Golf. “We are very excited our partners have joined forces and look forward to growing our licensed goods with Imperial and their team.”
There will be no immediate changes to the operations of J.T. Spencer. All manufacturing and distribution will remain in operation out of its current facility in Richmond, Virginia. Imperial is headquartered in Bourbon, Missouri, and owns factories in the cities of Sullivan, Winona, Ellington, Park Hills and Bonne Terre.
“When we started J.T. Spencer eight years ago, I could not have imagined the successful journey we would have in the golf world, and joining the Imperial family is just the next step in continuing our incredible growth trajectory,” said Steve DeWalle, President of J.T. Spencer.
“We love that we will be continuing to work with Peter Millar on their custom belt and accessories program and are thrilled at the opportunity to build the Peter Millar licensed T-shirt program Imperial has started.”
DeWalle and his partner, Spens Woodroof, will be staying on with Imperial post-acquisition to manage the transition and the Peter Millar licensed businesses going forward.
“J.T. Spencer makes the best belts in the game,” said David Shaffer, Senior Vice President of Sales at Imperial. “I have been observing their business growing rapidly over the past few years due to extremely hard-working people, quality products made right here in the United States, and a strong association with the Peter Millar brand.
“We are very excited to streamline Peter Millar’s industry leading belts with our Peter Millar T-shirt program and have Steve DeWalle leading the charge for us.”
Imperial’s parent company, Paramount Apparel International, was also recently acquired at the end of 2021 by CPC, whose mantra is “Buy, Build, Hold.” CPC was formed by the partners of Curran Companies and C3 Capital with the shared vision of becoming world class partners for great companies.
CPC is a company, not a traditional private equity fund, that seeks to make long-term investments and grow businesses over decades, not years.
“Paramount is extremely proud of Imperial and now the acquisition of J.T. Spencer,” said Todd Johnson, CEO of Paramount Apparel International. “The synergies J.T. Spencer has with Peter Millar only strengthen our relationship with them too. The combination of our manufacturing capabilities coupled with the Peter Millar brand position us well for expansion.
“We are looking forward to a bright future and longstanding partnership with Peter Millar.”