[Northlake, Ill.] Empire Today, based here, announced Nov. 17 it has been acquired by an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital in an effort to support and help drive growth initiatives.


Empire Today is the largest in-home sales flooring company and one of the largest specialty flooring providers in America. Serving residential and business consumers with products including carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile, vinyl flooring and window treatments, Empire currently sells to consumers in 68 markets throughout the U.S.

In a press release, Keith Weinberger, CEO of Empire Today, said, “H.I.G. has spent a great deal of time with our team and the business, is entirely supportive of our vision to become America’s first and best choice for installed flooring, and has made this investment to help us achieve that goal. This transaction, and the exciting future we see, is the result of the dedication and efforts of our employees and contractors, who make getting beautiful new floors easy for our customers across the country. Empire is committed to continuing to improve our customers’ experiences, and expanding our products and services into new geographic markets.”

H.I.G., based in Miami with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta, as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá and Rio de Janeiro, is a global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with more than $20 billion of equity capital under management. The firm specializes in providing debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies.

Brian Schwartz, an executive managing director of H.I.G. Capital, said in a news release the firm is excited about the new partnership. “Empire is a market leader with a compelling customer value proposition, a unique business model, an incredible brand, and significant growth prospects. We see tremendous opportunities in the business and look forward to supporting Keith and the entire Empire team.”

Source: Floor Covering Weekly, November 2016

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