The Michaels Companies is an American retail

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It was formed as a parent company of

Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of 1,252 American and Canadian arts and crafts stores, as of January 2021. It is one of North America's largest providers of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall ...

in 2014, , The Michaels Companies operates its flagship brand,

(in the United States and Canada) and Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise.. There are over 1,252 arts and crafts stores located in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

The michaels companies debuted in June 2014 on the NASDAQ under the symbol MIK and raised about $472 million in its initial public offering, using the funds to pay down debt. The IPO valued the company at $3.45 billion. In April 2015, Rubin was named chairman, in addition to his title of CEO. In August 2015, Michaels announced a partnership with online DIY craft design and video company

Darby Smart Nicole Shariat Farb is an American entrepreneur and business executive. She is a co-founder and the chief executive officer of the video community Darby Smart. Prior to founding the company, Farb worked as a Head of Emerging Private Companies at ...

aimed at "making crafting simpler and more accessible." In February 2016, the Michael's companies completed the acquisition of Lamrite West, Inc., which included an international wholesale business under the Darice brand name ("Darice") and 36 arts and crafts retail stores located primarily in the Midwest under the Pat Catan's brand name. In August, The Michaels Companies acquired Hancock Fabrics' intellectual property and customer database as part of its bankruptcy and liquidation. In June 2017, The Michaels Companies became a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

company. In Fall, Michaels launched a relationship with Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps in fall 2017, resulting in a digital video series called ''The Make Off'', in which Busy competes in a crafting competition against other celebrities. In 2018, ''The Make Off'' series was nominated for a

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

. That year the company also embarked on media partnerships with ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

around the concept of promoting screen-free activities for children and teens. In March 2018, the Michaels Compsnies announced its partnership with TV design personalities

Drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas * ...

and Jonathan Scott of HGTV's ''

Property Brothers ''Property Brothers'' is a Canadian reality television series now produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment, and is the original show in the Property Brothers (franchise), ''Property Brothers'' franchise. The series features twin brothers Drew S ...

'' for a custom frame collection. In January 2019, the Michaels Companies announced the closure of the Pat Catan Stores, a dozen or more of which were to be reopened under the Michaels Stores name. In November 2019, The Michaels Companies, Inc. announced that they would reopen up to 40 A.C. Moore stores after its bankruptcy and liquidation. In October, Mark Cosby was named CEO of the Michaels Companies after being named interim CEO in February 2019. In November 2019, The Michaels Companies, Inc. announced that they would reopen up to 40

A.C. Moore A.C. Moore was an American arts and crafts retail chain, owned by Nicole Crafts. It had 145 retail locations in the eastern United States, with corporate headquarters in Berlin, New Jersey. On November 25, 2019, A.C. Moore announced that it woul ...

stores as Michaels stores after A.C. Moore's

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. In January 2020, former Walmart merchandising executive

Ashley Buchanan Ashley Buchanan (born 1974) is an American business executive. He is chief executive officer of The Michaels Companies, former chief merchandising officer and chief operating officer of Walmart's e-commerce business and a member of The Michaels ...

joined The Michaels Companies as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and a member of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. In July, the company downsized its headquarters but remained in Irving, Texas. On March 3, 2021, The Michaels Companies management agreed to be acquired by venture capital firm Apollo Global Management for $22 per share, or $3.3 billion, and the company was to be taken private. In April, Apollo announced in a press release that the acquisition was completed.

Artistree

The Michaels Companies owns Artistree, a vertically integrated custom framing business that manufactures precut mats and framing merchandise for Michaels Stores and online ordering. Custom framing orders are processed and shipped to a Michaels store where the frame is assembled and picked up by the customer.

References

External links

The Michaels Companies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels Companies Arts and crafts retailers Companies based in Irving, Texas Private equity portfolio companies Retail companies of the United States 2014 initial public offerings Retail companies established in 2014 2021 mergers and acquisitions Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq