Austin hanger firm buys Miami rival

International Hanger to broaden its markets to include consumers, residential customers.

Austin-based International Hanger, which supplies custom clothes hangers to major retailers, designer brands and hotels, has acquired a Miami-based competitor in an effort to expand its e-commerce business.

Founded in 1990, International Hanger makes wooden hangers for customers including Macy’s, Ralph Lauren, Omni and Hilton.

The company said the purchase of Great American Hanger Co. broadens its markets to include consumers and residential customers.

Great American Hanger Co. was founded in 1999 with an ecommerce focus and has built its business by selling hangers through Internet storefronts such as Hangers.com and HangersDirect.com.

“They have done a great job using the Internet and social media, and we’re using that expertise now to build out our online business,” said Kurt Lemke, president of International Hanger. “We’ve always been a small non-tech company in a town that’s filled with technology, so we’re excited about expanding the technology side of our business.”

International Hanger will take over the Miami operations of Great American Hanger and add the company’s nine employees to its 25person workforce.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

International Hanger has grown through a series of acquisitions. The purchase of North Carolina-based Montrose Hanger expanded the company into the hotel business and added folding luggage stands to its line.

Lemke said with Great American Hanger in its fold, the company now has the largest group of Web sites specializing in hangers and it will