spectr17
06-28-2004, 06:59 PM
By David Smith Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
6/28/04
A Little Rock-based company has agreed to purchase Mack’s Sports Shop of Stuttgart, the largest duck-hunting retailer in the state, for $8.5 million.
RAM Venture Holdings Corp. of Little Rock signed an option to buy Mack’s Sports Shop and its catalog outlet, Mack’s Prairie Wings, on June 8, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document filed on Tuesday.
Natural Gear of Little Rock, one of the largest retailers of camouflage in the country, is an affiliate of RAM Venture. RAM is a thinly traded publicly held company sold on the overthe-counter market.
RAM closed at $4.50 Friday, up 25 cents. Only 2,300 shares were traded Friday, the first time the stock traded since Tuesday.
Natural Gear was founded in 1994.
Marion "Mack" McCollum, owner Mack’s Sport Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings, whose Web site is http://www.mackspw.com, did not return a call to comment on the sale.
Jeff Harris, president of Natural Gear and RAM, and Leland Sykes, an executive with Natural Gear, also did not return calls Friday.
Stephen Bell, executive vice president of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce, said McCollum had been approached several times to sell his stores, but has never done so. The interest in the stores, Bell said, is the success of the catalog division, Mack’s Prairie Wings, which has a subscriber list of 2.4 million customers.
Butch Richenback, mayor of Stuttgart, said Mack’s Sports Shop has a major impact on the Stuttgart economy. The shop is now a 104,000 square-foot store that sponsors its own festival each October that brings 40,000 visitors to Stuttgart, Richenback said. Richenback said he wouldn’t expect that much would change if the stores are sold.
Richenback sells his own Rich-N-Tone duck call through Mack’s Sports Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings.
RAM’s option to acquire Mc-Collum’s outlets expires on Wednesday. RAM is not required to follow through with the purchase, the SEC filing says.
RAM said McCollum will remain with Mack’s Sports Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings after the purchase. RAM said it and the hunting outlets would "agree on which, if any, other employees of the seller will be offered severance packages and the terms thereof."
RAM plans to acquire the stores with the proceeds of a private stock placement, according to the SEC filing. RAM filed a document with the Arkansas Securities Department in April, indicating its intentions to have a private placement of stock in the state.
According to the SEC filing, RAM agreed to buy the assets of McCollum’s stores but not the land on which the store sits or a private clubhouse owned by McCollum. RAM said it would lease the property where the store is located for $17,500 a month.
McCollum’s Hardware opened in Stuttgart more than 70 years ago. When duck hunting became popular in the area, the store added a line of duck hunting products. By 1944 a separate sporting goods store was opened.
As of 1998, the store and its catalog outlet were selling more steel shotgun shells than any other retail location in the world, according to Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac by Steve Bowman and Steve Wright.
6/28/04
A Little Rock-based company has agreed to purchase Mack’s Sports Shop of Stuttgart, the largest duck-hunting retailer in the state, for $8.5 million.
RAM Venture Holdings Corp. of Little Rock signed an option to buy Mack’s Sports Shop and its catalog outlet, Mack’s Prairie Wings, on June 8, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document filed on Tuesday.
Natural Gear of Little Rock, one of the largest retailers of camouflage in the country, is an affiliate of RAM Venture. RAM is a thinly traded publicly held company sold on the overthe-counter market.
RAM closed at $4.50 Friday, up 25 cents. Only 2,300 shares were traded Friday, the first time the stock traded since Tuesday.
Natural Gear was founded in 1994.
Marion "Mack" McCollum, owner Mack’s Sport Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings, whose Web site is http://www.mackspw.com, did not return a call to comment on the sale.
Jeff Harris, president of Natural Gear and RAM, and Leland Sykes, an executive with Natural Gear, also did not return calls Friday.
Stephen Bell, executive vice president of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce, said McCollum had been approached several times to sell his stores, but has never done so. The interest in the stores, Bell said, is the success of the catalog division, Mack’s Prairie Wings, which has a subscriber list of 2.4 million customers.
Butch Richenback, mayor of Stuttgart, said Mack’s Sports Shop has a major impact on the Stuttgart economy. The shop is now a 104,000 square-foot store that sponsors its own festival each October that brings 40,000 visitors to Stuttgart, Richenback said. Richenback said he wouldn’t expect that much would change if the stores are sold.
Richenback sells his own Rich-N-Tone duck call through Mack’s Sports Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings.
RAM’s option to acquire Mc-Collum’s outlets expires on Wednesday. RAM is not required to follow through with the purchase, the SEC filing says.
RAM said McCollum will remain with Mack’s Sports Shop and Mack’s Prairie Wings after the purchase. RAM said it and the hunting outlets would "agree on which, if any, other employees of the seller will be offered severance packages and the terms thereof."
RAM plans to acquire the stores with the proceeds of a private stock placement, according to the SEC filing. RAM filed a document with the Arkansas Securities Department in April, indicating its intentions to have a private placement of stock in the state.
According to the SEC filing, RAM agreed to buy the assets of McCollum’s stores but not the land on which the store sits or a private clubhouse owned by McCollum. RAM said it would lease the property where the store is located for $17,500 a month.
McCollum’s Hardware opened in Stuttgart more than 70 years ago. When duck hunting became popular in the area, the store added a line of duck hunting products. By 1944 a separate sporting goods store was opened.
As of 1998, the store and its catalog outlet were selling more steel shotgun shells than any other retail location in the world, according to Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac by Steve Bowman and Steve Wright.