Cape Craftsmen assets sold

By Jenny Heinzen York -- Home Accents Today, 2/1/2007

Evergreen Enterprises has acquired the key assets of Cape Craftsmen.

Evergreen is a vertically integrated manufacturer of gifts and garden product, based in Richmond, Va., that operates factories and distribution centers both domestically and in China. It acquired Cape Craftsmen to serve as its portal into the home decor market, company officials told Home Accents Today.

"Cape is a 25-year-old, good home decor company," said Frank Qiu, CEO of Evergreen. "It has a reputable name, a very tastefully done product portfolio and a very loyal customer base."

Evergreen has around 70 salespeople of its own, but Cape Craftsmen will continue to use a sales rep agency model and maintain its existing sales agency relationships. Cape Craftsmen also is maintaining its own corporate showrooms in Atlanta and Las Vegas. The companies will operate as separate entities from the sales side, with Evergreen managing the back-end logistics, sourcing, warehousing and shipping.

"This acquisition marries a great product line and management team and their sourcing relationships with Evergreen's operational expertise," said Brittany Toler, general manager for Cape Craftsmen.

She said customers will not see many changes because they will be working in the same showrooms and with the same salespeople.