Holmes Custom Acquires WallMonkeys.com
The company's ninth acquisition means it will now handle the operations for a peel-and-stick decal business.
Holmes Custom, a producer of personalized products, announced the acquisition of WallMonkeys.com. WallMonkeys, a Maryland-based business, moved its operations to Holmes Custom’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida.
The companies say the similarities between the two make the acquisition a natural fit and logical expansion for Holmes Custom. Like many of Holmes Custom products, WallMonkeys allows shoppers to get what they want in a short amount of time. Jason Weisenthal founded WallMonkeys a decade ago in 2009 as a company that quickly prints and delivers peel-and-stick wall decals for home and business use.
The catalog of products and same-day shipping mentality attracted Holmes Custom CEO and owner, Bryan Croft, to WallMonkeys’ business. A mutual friend of Croft and Weisenthal helped bring the companies together, as they knew WallMonkeys was looking to sell and part of Holmes Custom’s growth strategy is to do acquisitions. Croft explains the acquisition process took about four months.
From his first call with Croft about the opportunity, Weisenthal said he knew that Croft and Holmes Custom were the right fit. “I know that WallMonkeys will be in more capable hands to grow and succeed with this larger group. There are so many talented team members working to grow.”
Other factors that piqued Croft’s interest in WallMonkeys was the company’s creativity in product design, experience in online sales and marketing, emphasis in automation and efficiencies, and pride in USA manufacturing. Both companies customize and make products on demand for customers.
“I love the business model of having a massive catalog of products in the ‘wall decal’ space,” says Croft. “People find use for these decals all the time, whether it’s in their business or at home with creative wall décor.”
Holmes Custom is now in its 65th year of business and has positioned itself in three physical locations across the country (Jacksonville, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Salem, Massachusetts). Holmes Custom retails products such as stamps, professional identification, signs, plaques/awards, and gifts across eight web brands. WallMonkeys.com will be its ninth online web brand, in addition to retailing in physical brick-and-mortar stores such as Target and Home Goods, and retailing online on Amazon, eBay, Jane, Zulily, and several others.
With zero interruptions in retail and manufacturing, WallMonkeys’ orders started printing at Holmes Custom on September 16, 2019. WallMonkeys customers can continue ordering without interruption on www.wallmonkeys.com. Custom Holmes says it may cross-pollinate products across sites at some point, but not at this time. In the meantime, customers can expect more content and next-day delivery once everything is up and running in all locations, which Croft says will be in the first quarter of 2020.
Along with handling the manufacturing, the marketing team at Holmes Custom will help grow the brand via more marketing of the products. Several WallMonkeys employees transitioned into being Holmes Custom employees. Some went down to Jacksonville for the initial transition; one is staying in Jacksonville for an extended period of time, and the others will work remotely. One of the WallMonkeys staff to become Holmes Custom employees is Weisenthal.
“The acquisition and moving WallMonkeys’ operations to Jacksonville is actually helping us create more jobs,” explains Croft. Holmes Customs plans to hire one to two full-time employees in 2020 to support the operation.
For more information on Holmes Custom, visit www.holmescustom.com/all-brands. To learn more about WallMonkeys.com, check out the online store at www.wallmonkeys.com.
