Gabriel Brothers, a privately owned and operated off-price retail company headquartered in Morgantown, WV, and its affiliate, Rugged Wearhouse, have successfully recapitalized in conjunction with current ownership and an investment partner. The recapitalization will aid in the expansion and growth of the business. Carl Marks Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to the company.

Founded as a single store in 1961 by brothers Jim and Art Gabriel, Gabriel Brothers has grown to more than 100 stores. Gabriel Brothers operates deep-discount apparel stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country, mainly in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In addition, the company operates Rugged Wearhouse discount apparel stores in nine states along the Eastern seaboard from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

With the financial flexibility of the recapitalization and its new partnership with a leading retail business investor, Gabriel Brothers intends to begin a new phase of expansion, growing its business in existing markets, as well as expanding into new markets.

“Gabriel Brothers is a robust business with a long history of success,” said Peter N. Schaeffer, partner, Carl Marks Securities. “It continues to be an important player in the market place and is well-positioned to be successful in its plan for further expansion.”

“We are pleased to have worked with Carl Marks during the recapitalization process,” said Jim Kline, CFO of Gabriel Brothers. “We engaged the firm for its extensive expertise in both the retail industry and investment banking. The skills and knowledge its professionals brought to the process were very valuable to us.”

Carl Marks Advisory Group LLC provides a wide array of investment banking and financial, operational, real estate and healthcare advisory services to the middle market, including mergers and acquisitions advice, sourcing of capital, financial restructuring plans, strategic business assessments, improvement plans and interim management.

Carl Marks Securities assists its clients in executing private placements of debt and equity.