THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250207
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Campaign Inc., the sole manufacturer of Polo Ralph Lauren belts and suspenders, said Friday that it will be sold to women's-apparel company Koret Inc.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
San Francisco-based Koret has indicated that it will not lay off any of the 125 employees in Norfolk.
``Koret is pleased with the company and our growth,'' said Lee Goldman, president of Campaign division Polo Leathergoods. ``They want to keep it intact. They don't want to touch anything.''
Campaign, founded in Atlanta about 20 years ago, moved to Chesapeake in 1979 and then to Portsmouth before settling into a 75,000-square-foot facility in the Norfolk Industrial Park.
Its company chairman, Joseph B. Goldman, had met Ralph Lauren in New York in the '60s. At the time, Lauren was a neckwear designer, and Goldman was a salesman.
They two kept in touch, and then came the big break: Lauren granted Campaign the license to make his leather products, everything from purses on a string to wallets.
Campaign, which had sales of more than $25 million last year, now manufactures and distributes more than 1,000 items, said Lee Goldman, Joseph's son. The firm also has a showroom and offices in New York.
Lee Goldman will remain with the company after the buyout as Campaign's chief operating officer and president of the Polo Leathergoods division. Goldman said that the company is being sold because his father is retiring for personal reasons.
``He built this out of nothing, and that's quite an accomplishment,'' he said. ``I'm really proud of him.'' by CNB