News

R.G. Barry selling pizza delivery bag maker Vesture

May 15, 2003

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PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- A $5.8 million loss in 2002 has led R.G. Barry Corp. to sell off its thermal products division, which manufactures pizza delivery bags used by Papa John's and Donatos Pizzeria (See related story Hot and Handy).

According to Columbus Business First, Barry will sell its Asheboro, N.C.-based Vesture Corp. division to an investment group led by Vesture's chairman, Byron Owens. Owens co-founded Vesture, which Barry acquired in 1994.

Barry officials expect the deal, the terms of which weren't disclosed, to be complete in a couple of weeks. According to the report, the company sought a buyer for Vesture for more than a year.

Gordon Zacks, chairman and chief executive officer of Barry, said the Vesture business is a good one, but not for his company overall, which manufactures slippers.

"For us, the thermal products business has become a management distraction and financial drain," Zacks said in a release cited by Business First. "Today's sale will curtail losses in our thermal products segment, further reduce our inventories and provide a potential for royalties."

Barry spokesman Roy Youst called overall market conditions difficult and said the company was beyond its area of expertise in serving the pizza market.