Private equity firm OpCapita has acquired maurices, a Duluth-based women’s fashion retailer.
“This is an exciting day for our maurices family,” says maurices President and Chief Executive Officer, George Goldfarb. “We’ve had strong holiday and early spring sales, and are looking forward to building on our momentum with our new owners, OpCapita, who are truly invested in adding even greater value to the maurices brand by providing additional resources and expertise.”
maurices will continue to be led by Goldfarb and its current management, supported by OpCapita’s investment team, as well as a dedicated team in the United States. Jeff Kirwan, the former president and CEO of Gap brand, who has extensive experience in large-scale specialty apparel retail, will join maurices as executive chairman. maurices is OpCapita’s first US investment.
OpCapita has significant experience in adding value to consumer and retail businesses, and recently completed a highly successful investment in NKD, a discount women’s clothing retailer based primarily in Germany and Austria.
“OpCapita clearly recognises the value of our people, market position and growth potential. We have a strong market niche and proudly operate 940 stores in communities across the US and Canada, as well a growing online business. OpCapita has significant experience in taking brands to the next level in Europe, and will help us best serve our customers and grow the organisation,” says Goldfarb.
“OpCapita invested in maurices because of its compelling position in the markets it serves and loyal customer following,” says Henry Jackson, Chief Executive of OpCapita. “We are building from a strong foundation and believe we can provide additional value by applying several of the operational improvement strategies we have successfully implemented in the past, with a focus on optimising sourcing, e-commerce, and inventory management. Our goal is to offer our customers the right product at the right price.”
