Gift Universe, the parent company of gifts and gadgets retailer Menkind, has officially completed the acquisition of Prezzybox, an established brand in the gifting industry and the creation of founder Zak Edwards.
The deal, which was made for an undisclosed sum, will enable the company to extend its reach into the female gifting market alongside Menkind’s male focused proposition, and follows Gift Universe’s recent acquisition of Hawkin’s Bazaar, which furthers its strategy to develop specialised highly targeted offerings.
Family-run Prezzybox was founded in 2000 with the mission to ‘to create moments of happiness by delivering the extraordinary’. The acquisition will see no significant change to Prezzybox, with the company maintaining its brand name, identity, ethos and value proposition. Gift Universe will look to use synergies in terms of buying, marketing and finance to the benefit of the company and its customers.
Prezzybox commercial director Barney Edwards commented: “We’re pleased that the business is going into Gift Universe’s capable hands and look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength in the future. As a family, we have put a huge amount of effort into building the business and we are happy to pass it on to a company that can help it achieve its potential.
“We are excited to continue the growth of our business through the acquisition of this well-established family brand. The acquisition of Prezzybox provides further opportunity to develop and grow our offering and increase our foothold in the gifting industry, enabling us to continue to expand our customer base.”
Gift Universe CEO and founder Paul Kraftman
“We are thankful to all the external stakeholders we have worked with and, most importantly, would like to thank our many team members from over the years. Despite growing into a big operation from a small family business, we have always felt like one big family.”
Gift Universe CEO and founder Paul Kraftman added: “We are excited to continue the growth of our business through the acquisition of this well-established family brand. The acquisition of Prezzybox provides further opportunity to develop and grow our offering and increase our foothold in the gifting industry, enabling us to continue to expand our customer base.”
Gift Universe is a multi-channel business sourcing, developing and selling products in the novelty, gifting and gadgets market. Founded in 2002, the company operates an expansive network of Menkind stores across the UK. Under the direction of Paul Kraftman, Gift Universe has grown organically as well as via several successful mergers and acquisitions since its inception. With an in-house product development team, it is able to offer a diverse product range spanning several gifting categories, with 70% of revenue generated from original products designed in-house. Channels include 50 permanent stores (expanding up to 70 at peak trading through seasonal pop-ups), and B2B distribution to blue-chip and independent retailers, ecommerce and marketplaces.
www.menkind.co.uk
