Gabberts drops effort to buy Arizona's Ladlow's
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, August 18, 2003
Edina, Minn. — Gabberts has decided not to buy Ladlow's Fine Furniture in Scottsdale, Ariz., and will focus instead on its existing Texas and Minneapolis markets.
The Top 100 upscale store said in April it was negotiating to acquire the one-store Ladlow's and hoped to come to terms in three or four months. But Gabberts Chief Executive Officer Jim Gabbert said it recently informed Ladlow's owner and President Dan Roark that it's no longer pursuing the purchase.
"With the continued softness in the general economy and in our markets, we just decided to focus on the core business for awhile," said Gabbert, who operates four stores, one in its Minneapolis home market and three in Dallas-Fort Worth. "We hope to revisit the opportunity some time in the future."
The purchase would have given Gabberts entry into its first new market in 15 years, where it would have competed again against Fort Myers, Fla.-based Robb & Stucky, which opened a store in metro Dallas in 2000.
But Ladlow's may not be for sale. Roark said Ladlow's never really was on the block, but "we felt Gabberts' interest had a lot of merit and could have fit long-term plans."
He said both sides put a lot of time and effort into the negotiations, and now he thinks it's time to take another direction. "The business is not for sale, and the best course for us is to focus on realizing more of the potential from our business and our new facility," Roark said.
Ladlow's opened its 75,000-square-foot showroom and attached 60,000-square-foot warehouse in May 2002 on North Scottsdale Road, a hot retailing area, replacing its 17,000-square-foot store in the market.
Roark would not disclose Ladlow's annual sales, but said the store is profitable and business has been good, although not robust, in the Phoenix-Scottsdale market, which has held up well at the high end compared to many markets.
Gabberts, which did an estimated $85.8 million in furniture, bedding and accessory sales last year, has seen a nice lift in sales during the last two months, Gabbert said, "but we remain cautious."
