Target buys Smith & Hawken brand
Written on January 9, 2010
Target Corp. said late Friday it has bought Smith & Hawken’s brand name and some of the upscale garden store chain’s intellectual property.
The Minneapolis-based retailer didn’t disclose how much it paid for what remains of Smith & Hawken, which was owned by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. Marysville, Ohio-based Scotts announced in July of 2009 that it planned to close the 56-store chain by the end of the year.
At the time, Smith & Hawken CEO Jim Hagedorn attributed the closure to the recession and a “lack of scale.”
Target (NYSE: TGT) has sold Smith & Hawken products at its stores as part of an exclusive agreement since 2006. Target plans to reveal what it will do with the brand at a later date, the company said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to own such an admired and iconic brand,” said Kathee Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, in a press statement instant payday loans. “We believe the Smith & Hawken brand complements our existing portfolio of owned brands and provides our guests with another compelling reason to shop Target.”
Scotts paid $68.5 million for Novato, Calif.-based Smith & Hawken in 2004.
Target's last major acquisition was in 1998, when the company, then called Dayton Hudson Corp., bought Rivetown Trading Co. from St. Paul-based Minnesota Communications Group (MCG). Rivertown, which had 400 employees at the time, produced and distributed consumer catalogs.
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