National Safety Apparel (NSA), a specialist in the design and manufacture of high-quality industrial safety and military apparel, has acquired Kansas-based apparel manufacturer King Louie, bringing its total headcount to roughly 700.
King Louie America produces union-made men’s and women’s shirts and outerwear. In 2018, Cleveland-based National Safety Apparel acquired Rubin Brothers, another union-made, made in USA apparel manufacturer. The proven success of increasing capacity and adding experienced team members to the NSA family through the Rubin Brothers acquisition laid the groundwork for the King Louie acquisition, the company noted. Globally, Allied Market Research expects the protective apparel sector to reach $12 billion in the next five years, expanding at a 6 percent combined annual growth rate from 2020 to 2027.
“In today’s challenging labor market, we’re always looking at innovative ways to grow our U.S. manufacturing capacity and employ American workers,” said Chuck Grossman, CEO of fourth-generation, family-owned National Safety Apparel, which operates union and non-union manufacturing facilities. “Acquiring King Louie allows us to increase our output to better serve our customers and sustains NSA’s commitment to U.S. manufacturing.”
National Safety Apparel—which is scheduled to participate in this month’s Shot Show and Outdoor Retailer event in Las Vegas and Denver, respectively—provides industrial and safety garments for wearers in the electrical and gas utilities, steel mills and aluminum foundries, glass plants, construction, manufacturing and the armed forces.
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NSA’s cadre of brands includes Tecgen FR lightweight flame-resistant clothing that includes options for arc flash and flash fire protection; Hydrolite FR flame resistant rainwear; Vizable FR clothing; Drifire FR arc flash and flash fire industrial workwear and FR military clothing; UnionLine FR union-made FR clothing; HauteWork FR Clothing made for women by women, and Wild Things cold weather military clothing, as well as ArcGuard arc flash PPE; Carbon Armour thermal, welding and molten metal protection; cutGuard mechanical and cut protection, and Kunz Gloves–leather gloves for the power utility industry.
The acquisition marks NSA’s second in less than two months. On Nov. 30, the company announced its acquisition of Illinois-based Enespro, which came to market in 2018 with a mission to make electrical personal protective equipment lighter, smarter and safer.
Enespro president and CEO, Mike Enright, who takes on the president title at NSA, said the new parent company’s “intense focus on innovation, excellent reputation throughout the industry, and a strong commitment to USA manufacturing will strengthen the Enespro brand and help bring the electrical PPE user experience to an entirely new level.”
Enright’s “extensive background” in PPE and protective textiles will be “invaluable” to NSA, Grossman added.
“Enespro has built outstanding direct relationships with hundreds of end-users of electrical PPE,” he said. “Together, with our large network of distributor-partners, we can further enhance service levels and expand the availability of the Enespro brand to electrical workers around the world.”