NEW YORK — Flora Nikrooz Lingerie, a designer sleepwear firm, has been acquired by The Age Group.
A purchase price was not available. The Nikrooz company generates annual wholesale sales of between $5 million and $8 million, according to industry estimates.
Age Group, which is owned and headed by Richard Adjmi and Harold Ebami, is a $100 million manufacturer of moderate-price sleepwear for department stores bearing the Of The Moment label, licensed women’s and girls’ underwear and daywear by the U.S. Polo Association, branded panties by Underthere, and daywear and underwear for women and girls under the licensed Hello Kitty and Peanuts names.
Interviewed at the Flora Nikrooz showroom and design studio at 31 East 32nd Street here, designer Flora Nikrooz said, “The beauty of this deal is I have no complaints. We are known for our upscale woven goods and we don’t do knits like Age Group does. This will be a great marriage.”
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Nikrooz said the financial muscle now behind the Nikrooz name will give her far more creative freedom.
“We were always suffering when dealing with buying minimums,” she said. “You fall in love with a great fabric, but at the end of the line, could we afford to buy 40,000 yards? Now we can.”
Adjmi said, “What it came down to was Flora wanted what we have at Age Group and we wanted what Flora had, a brand that will be our first premium brand. This strategic alliance will give us a new channel of distribution at department stores, as well as certain products like bridal [sleepwear].”
Adjmi added that plans include expanding distribution and fabric offerings, and making the Nikrooz firm’s other brands, Intimates by Flora Nikrooz and Flash by Flora Nikrooz, “more affordable.”
“We’ll also be looking at doing some licenses like foundations, underwear and slippers,” said Adjmi, noting that his company will oversee day-to-day operations, sales, sourcing and production, which is conducted in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Turkey.
Marvin Backer, Nikrooz’s husband, will continue with the firm as a business consultant.
“We’ll continue to show the collections at our showroom, and we plan greater exposure at a variety of domestic and international trade shows such as Lyon, Mode City in Lyon, France, the Salon International de la Lingerie in Paris, and Harrogate in England,” Backer said. “We also plan to expand the number of regional showrooms.”
Adjmi said, “We have a three-year plan. We’re going to take our time and do everything the proper way and take the Flora Nikrooz company and its brands to an annual volume of $15 million to $20 million. We think we can at least take the Nikrooz company to five times more doors from the existing 300.”