Sale to Japan’s Largest Hosiery Company Will Expand Royce’s Business Opportunities

Royce Too LLC today announced that it has sold a majority stake of the company to Okamoto Corporation, Japan’s largest specialized hosiery producer.  The transaction will provide Royce with new opportunities to expand into the private label and specialty brand businesses while offering Okamoto a foothold into the U.S. market through Royce’s extensive marketing and distribution networks. 

Royce holds licensing agreements with Dockers®, Nautica®, and Nine West® and supplies leg wear to national chain stores such as Belk, Bon-Ton, Fred Meyers, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Mervyns and Sears.  Okamoto is expecting to sell the Cross Pro brand of athletic and outdoors socks as well as its other proprietary brands and products through the Royce Too sales and distribution network.   

“In addition to generating additional sales of our current licensed products, our partnership with Okamoto will provide us with new opportunities to widen our distribution base in both the private label and specialty brand businesses,” said Bob Boglioli, President and CEO of Royce Too.  “We are excited to be working with Okamoto and look forward to offering their top-selling brands to our customers.”

“The purchase of Royce, one of the leading hosiery companies in the United States, is another key step in our efforts to expand into the international marketplace,” said Tetsuji Okamoto, President of Okamoto Corporation.  “By combining our technical and product development skills with Royce’s wide-ranging sales channels, we will be able to build new relationships and market our products more effectively.” 

About Royce Too Royce, founded in 1949, has an extensive 59-year history of experience and achievement in the hosiery industry. Among the national brand licenses Royce holds are Dockers®, Nautica® and Nine West®. In addition, the company supplies leg wear to a wide range of national chain stores including Belk, Bon-Ton, Fred Meyers, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Mervyns and Sears Kohl’s. Royce Too is based in New York City.

About Okamoto Corporation Okamoto Corporation, based in Nara, Japan, is an integrated sock manufacturing company, offering a wide range of athletic and fashion socks and hosiery for men, women and children. Okamoto has strong product development capabilities, enhanced by its own fiber and knitting machine, generated by its R&D group. Supported by its own factories in China, Thailand, and Japan, Okamoto has an extensive production network in Asia, providing clients with high-quality products in a timely manner. Okamoto currently sells 125 million pairs of leg wear per year.