Bolivar-based Teters Floral Products sells to investors, managers

Teters Floral, a national distributor of artificial flowers and plants, was acquired for an undisclosed price on Aug. 31 by a New York-based investment group, according to Rick Looker, Teters Floral’s executive vice president of marketing. Private equity firm Fenway Partners, also in New York, had owned Teters Floral for 12 years under the holding company Decorative Concepts Inc.

A group of Bolivar-based senior managers, including Looker and company President Mark Johnson, have obtained minority equity positions in Teters Floral. The New York investment group – Bleacher Partners – is led by Elliott Jones, who now serves as chairman of Teters Floral’s board of directors.

Looker expects Jones and the other investors to sell Teters again within five years.

“Their business is primarily buying companies, investing in them to maximize their potential and turning around and moving them fairly quickly,” Looker said.

Teters Floral was started by Bolivar’s Teters family, who also established Teters Florist, a retail flower shop still operating in Bolivar. Both companies have not been under family ownership since the 1970s, and Teters Floral Products has had a series of corporate owners. Teters Floral has its headquarters at 1425 S. Lillian Ave. in Bolivar.

Growing tall

H. Tiffin Teters started Teters Floral Products in 1957 for the purpose of manufacturing and selling artificial Memorial Day wreaths and sprays. A large segment of Teters Floral Products’ business is still devoted to cemetery decorations.

The Teters family sold the company to U.S. Industries in 1972, and since then it’s changed hands four times between out-of-town companies.

What started as a family business has grown into a national manufacturer and distributor of artificial floral products, with more than $200 million of Teters products sold annually through retail clients. Teters officials wouldn’t disclose company revenues.

Teters has historically sold its products through mass-market discount stores, including Wal-Mart, Kmart and Dollar General.

“They show a good value, especially for a discount variety-store chain,” said Chuck Brussow, a buyer with Abilene, Kan.-based Duckwall-ALCO Stores Inc. Brussow said Duckwall-ALCO Stores has been buying Teters’ products for about 30 years.

In order to meet the growth demanded by the New York investment group, Looker said Teters expanded its product mix and added some higher-end specialty stores, such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Kirkland’s Home, to its client roster.

To undertake the expansion, Teters management, knowing that their division was being shopped by Decorative Concepts, formed The Creative Connection Ltd., a wholly owned Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Teters Floral Products.

The Creative Connection, which began operations in March, exports private-label artificial flowers to Teters’ domestic customers.

“We felt that would add considerable value to the transaction,” Looker said.

The company also operates a showroom in Dallas and a distribution center in Mississippi.

Staying planted

Teters Floral isn’t likely to leave Bolivar any time soon. In October, the company entered a long-term lease agreement for a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at 1324 E. 483rd Road to complement its 180,000-square-foot headquarters.

Teters, which employs 280 in Bolivar, also plans to add jobs as growth dictates, though Looker didn’t have projections.

That’s good news to Teresa Barker, owner of Teters Florist, the retail flower shop that the Teters family formed in 1904 and sold in the 1960s.

“I know that they’ve had a lot of owners, and that’s always kind of worried me that they would pull out of Bolivar,” she said. “We really need them.”

Teters Timeline

1957 – Teters family forms Teters Floral Products in Bolivar to manufacture artificial Memorial Day wreaths and sprays

1972 – Teters family sells Teters Floral Products to U.S. Industries

1984 – USI sells Teters to Hanson PLC of London

1994 – Hanson PLC sells Teters back to USI

1995 – USI sells Teters to New York private equity firm Fenway Partners, which places Teters under the umbrella of Decorative Concepts Inc.

2007 – Fenway Partners sells Teters to Bleacher Partners, another New York-based investment group; senior managers obtain minority ownership[[In-content Ad]]