There are few retailers in the outdoor business, if any, that have expanded like Watson’s.
Over the last five years, the company has been strategically acquiring retailers. In 2022, Watson’s acquired Allstate Home Leisure, adding five Detroit-area stores to the mix. Then in 2024, Watsons bought Florida-based Recreational Warehouse. A few weeks ago, it was announced that Watson’s had acquired Viridien Patio + Fireplace, an Apollo Award-winning operation out of Charlotte, North Carolina.
This adds an additional four locations in Charlotte, Lake Norman and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as a store in Greenville, South Carolina. The deal brings Watson’s total store count to 39, with 23 corporate locations and 16 franchise affiliates across nine states.
But Erik Mueller, CEO of Watson’s, notes that the company is not simply buying up retailers to change what they’re doing. He’s looking for partners that he can work with to build better businesses.
Grant Henegan, owner of Vidiren, has been a friend of Mueller’s for a while, and unlike other retail operations that get acquired, the company was not suffering. Mueller says it’s a successful store that will benefit from the expanded resources Watson’s can offer.
“When you think about the most valuable asset in any organization in our industry, it’s the people,” Mueller says. “We can’t service the customer if we don’t have wonderful people. We were plenty capable of going to Charlotte and opening our own stores. We’ve done that in other markets many times. But when we can acquire an organization that has staff with tenure and low turnover, it’s a tremendous benefit.”
Although Watson’s serves a broader demographic than Viridien—which specializes in higher-end product—Mueller says that creates an opportunity for the brand now that Watson’s is in the mix.
“We could use the Viridien platform as a growth vehicle or as a specific business model,” he says.
While Viridien will operate as Viridien by Watson’s, the staff at the store will continue their day-to-day activities as usual. However, Mueller says Watson’s will play a significant role in the overall business with regards to growth, strategy, financials and general direction. Historically speaking, Watson’s has chosen to co-brand its acquired stores (by Watson’s) for 12-24 months and then convert the name to Watson’s. In this case, Mueller says they will co-brand and see where it takes them.
“When we do deals like this, I like to sit back and learn for the first four to sixth months,” he says. “We aren’t private equity, and we don’t go in and change everything when we acquire a company. We take quite the opposite approach. We learn, listen, and understand why they’ve had the success they’ve had and where they’re winning. That leads us to what things we could do to add value to the organization.”
One of the moves that will happen sooner rather than later is a transfer of the marketing responsibilities to Watson’s. The store’s in-house marketing team will offer Viridien the opportunity to market in ways they were not previously equipped to do so.
Overall, Mueller says he’s looking forward to working with Henegan and the crew at Viridien to continue delivering high-quality products and experiences. Looking ahead, they see meaningful opportunities to expand product offerings and further grow their presence throughout the state.
