Riegel Linen, T-Y Group and Harbor Linen (a former division of Bed Bath & Beyond) have completed their merger into one company with a new moniker: 1Concier. The combined company will provide textiles and operating supplies and equipment for hotels, cruise lines and other hospitality businesses.
The three companies shared a similar heritage in the way they dealt with customers and the relationships that they had—and this drove a need for a unique new name, according to Nancie Samet, VP of marketing and product development at T-Y Group and Harbor Linen. “We spent a lot of time talking to different people in our company—T-Y Group and Harbor Linen as well as Riegel—to understand what was important and what they felt was unique about our company,” she said, adding that the name works well with the commercial customers the companies have and evokes hospitality. “We solve problems for our customers, we try to think about what their brand is, who their customers are and how we can help them achieve their goals and keep their customers happy.”
Denver-based private equity firm Lion Equity Partners announced in October 2020 that its affiliate, Lion Equity Holdings II, would acquire T-Y Group and Harbor Linen from Bed Bath & Beyond, which was looking to divest from its non-core assets. A sale like this was “crazy to say the least” during a pandemic, said 1Concier CEO Chris Nelson, “especially trying to pitch a company that sells sheets and towels to the hospitality industry when hospitality wasn't doing too well in October.” The firm had acquired Riegel Linen was from Mount Vernon Mills in November 2019, and tapped Nelson to oversee the merger of the three textile businesses into a one-stop shop for bedding, towels, robes, healthcare products and table linens. “Every time I go to our warehouses I see boxes from Riegel, boxes from T-Y, boxes from Harbor,” Nelson said. “There'll be one consistent box which says 1Concier, which is going to be really really nice. It's going to be a strong message to our customers.”
The new company has recently restructured its sales organization into geographic orientations with—as the name suggests—a heightened focus on personal relationships with customers. 1Concier has also streamlined supply chain processes and consolidated its headquarters into its Miami location. It also maintains an office in Aiken, S.C.
The three companies share common values and strategic plans, Nelson said, so the leadership teams were able to avoid internal rebranding as part of the merger. “We hope that as we continue to work with our partners at Lion Equity, they’ll continue to target other complementary businesses, and we can really use the 1Concier platform to really build on that foundation and to become a powerhouse in the industry,” he said.