Watson’s Acquires Recreational Warehouse, Enters Florida Market

Watson’s, one of the nation’s largest retailers of home recreational products and furnishings, has announced the acquisition of Fort Myers, Fla.-based Recreational Warehouse — a spa, pool, outdoor kitchen, and more, home specialty retailer. 

The purchase of Recreational Warehouse further increases Watson’s market share in the space. Watson’s will add three Southwest Florida corporate locations (Fort Myers, Naples and Port Charlotte) to the company’s current corporate  and franchise footprint of 27 locations.

“The Florida market has been in our sights for quite some time”, says Erik Mueller, CEO of Watson’s. “The Recreational  Warehouse people, culture, business model and longevity in their markets ended up being the right fit for us. We  are excited to welcome the Recreational Warehouse team into the Watson’s family and continue to provide some fun and relaxation to the families and homes in Southwest Florida. We see an excellent opportunity for product category expansion within the business model and additional locations in the state." 

“We’re excited to join Watson’s! Our Recreational Warehouse team has built a great business in Southwest Florida over nearly 30 years. We viewed Watson’s as the perfect continuation for our business, and we are confident that  the commitment and investment by Watson’s will provide even greater opportunities for our dedicated staff and our great customers” says Craig Ecelbarger, CEO Recreational Warehouse. 

Recreational Warehouse will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Watson’s, initially integrated as Recreational Warehouse by Watson’s, with a full transition to Watson’s branding over the next several years. Customers should expect to receive the same high quality of customer service and product they have come to expect from  Recreational Warehouse and Watson’s. 

Cincinnati based partners assisting in the acquisition included Katz Teller and Clark Schaefer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.