Carls Patio Acquisition Complete

March 25, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Acquisition on March 26, 2013

The acquisition of Carls Patio by an investor group that includes Weinberg Capital Group and Paul Otowchits, the retailer's president.

The company will operate nine locations on the East and West coasts of Florida, along with its national Web site. 

Otowchits, who previously served as vice president at Carls Patio under its prior ownership, is now a shareholder, along with Weinberg Capital Group, and will serve as the new company's president.

"The entire team at the company is excited over this opportunity to take Carls to the next level," Otowchits said. "Our management has long been at the forefront of the casual furniture evolution and we are now poised to aggressively enhance our Internet presence and roll out a number of new ideas for our retail locations."

Otowchits said he is "gratified" by the industry support throughout the acquisition process.

Carls Patio will remain headquartered in Southeast Florida and has announced plans to move its warehouse and headquarters into a single facility. New store expansion is also planned, coupled with increased emphasis on categories that support today's outdoor casual lifestyle, including pillows, tabletop, cooking grills, and other unique items. The company will continue with its current furniture brand names, alongside its newly created "Ship 'n Shore" collections.

The transaction was led by Weinberg Capital Group, which structured the transaction as a purchase of the business and assets of the former Carls Patio from within a Delaware bankruptcy proceeding.

Weinberg Capital Group is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and its partner Ron Weinberg will serve as chairman of Carls Patio. Weinberg Capital Group is a private investor in a portfolio of businesses, including the Advanced Sleep Concepts of Rome, Ga., a mattress manufacturer, and Channel Products, an Ohio-based manufacturer of igniters for outdoor grills. Weinberg has also been involved as an investor and producer of feature length movies.