Top 40 promotional products supplier Edwards Garment (asi/51752) has acquired Bishop Custom Clothing (asi/40585), a Vancouver, BC-based supplier that specializes in manufacturing bespoke custom corporate apparel. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Kalamazoo, MI-based Edwards Garment said that bringing Bishop aboard will be a boon for both companies’ customers, as they will now have a broader assortment of career apparel products and services from which to select. “The combination of our two unique companies creates a wider and more dynamic product offering to support large uniform programs,” said Gary Schultz, president/CEO of Edwards Garment. Schultz also pointed to synergies that, he said, make the acquisition a smart move for both suppliers. “We serve many of the same distributors. The availability of the Edwards stock product, combined with custom apparel through Bishop, gives us more flexibility to bring total solutions to the market and our distributors,” Schultz said.

Norm Bishop, Bishop Custom Clothing

For more than 20 years, Bishop Custom Clothing has partnered with promotional products distributors to design and source custom apparel for some of the world’s largest companies and organizations, executives said. The firm will continue to operate in Vancouver under the direction of President Norm Bishop. “Throughout this acquisition, we have gotten to know the Edwards team and have admired their stellar reputation and terrific culture,” Bishop said in a statement. “Their business approach in creating career apparel programs and servicing customers aligns with our mission and vision so we know this acquisition will be a win-win for everyone.”

Rick Cesere, executive vice president at Edwards Garment, told Counselor that Bishop’s anticipated revenue for the whole of 2019 is approximately $8 million. Executives estimate that Bishop will add $10 million in revenue to Edwards Garment’s total sales in 2020, Cesere said. “We feel the blend of in-stock garments matched with totally custom garments enables our distributor partners to expand their overall offering and win more business,” he told Counselor.

With 2018 North American promotional product revenue of $70.3 million, Edwards Garment ranked 20^th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry. The company’s five-year average annual growth rate is 4%, Counselor research shows. A privately held firm that specializes in career and uniform apparel, Edwards Garments’ clothes are worn by household name end-user brands that include Disney, Seaworld, MGM Resorts and American Airlines.