Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431) had a big 2022.

The Los Angeles-headquartered firm’s total annual global sales soared nearly 80% over the prior year to about $388 million, according to financial data released Wednesday, March 15, by publicly traded parent firm Superior Group of Companies (SGC). The vast majority of that business occurred in North America, executives said.

SGC reported that BAMKO posted a 2022 EBITDA margin of 8%.

BAMKO generated last year’s success, in part by selling into a range of end-markets, from quick-service restaurants and technology to entities in the gig economy and automotive spaces.

Large-scale projects and program business were one key element of success, executives said. Clients have included Dunkin’, Applebee’s, Walmart, Taco Bell, Grubhub, Amazon, DoorDash, Hulu, Uber Eats, In-N-Out Burger, Waffle House, Advance Auto Parts and others.

BAMKO also experienced a significant revenue increase thanks to the business of HPI, an SGC-owned uniform and corporate image apparel provider, being brought under the umbrella of the distributorship in 2022. HPI previously operated separately from BAMKO. The integration has been another important factor in success. “It was a big, bold effort that required everyone to pitch in to build something better,” BAMKO President Jake Himelstein, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, has said.

Strategic acquisitions also helped build revenue. In May last year, BAMKO announced the acquisition of Guardian Products, a Norcross, GA-based distributorship. That followed the December 2021 acquisition of Sutter’s Mill Specialties.

ASI Research shows that distributors collectively increased sales by 11.4% to $25.8 billion in 2022, tying an industry record that was set in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Tech & Infrastructure the Focus in 2023

Himelstein said that in 2023 BAMKO is focused on implementing game-changing improvements in technology and infrastructure.

“2023 is a hugely important year for the future of our business,” Himelstein told ASI Media. “We recently launched an entirely new tech platform that is unlike anything in the industry. Our new Unified Backend will fundamentally change the way online stores are done.”

Just as important as tech is what Himelstein described as BAMKO’s commitment to building out warehousing infrastructure and in-house decoration capabilities.

“2023 is a hugely important year for the future of our business.” Jake Himelstein, BAMKO

“We’ve become exceptionally good at winning large program business the last few years,” he said. “We want to leave no doubt that we’ve got the resources, infrastructure and capabilities to support those big accounts in the manner they deserve. In the quarters ahead, we’ll be revealing the details of cutting-edge warehousing and in-house decoration capabilities.”

Himelstein noted that BAMKO – like the industry and economy in general – is facing headwinds that include widespread layoffs in the technology space, rising interest rates, concerns about the banking system, continued high inflation and worries that a recession will soon take hold. Nonetheless, he feels BAMKO’s outlook is bright.

“The strength of our RFP pipeline, the quality of industry talent that is eager to join our team, the overall level of talent in our organization – all those things are riding high and are excellent indicators of future success,” Himelstein said.

Sales Up, But a Net Loss for Parent Firm SGC

Beyond its BAMKO/Branded Products business, SGC has separate healthcare-apparel and contact center divisions. Across all three of those business segments, SGC grew total revenue by 8% year over year in 2022 to $578.83 million.

Still, SGC experienced a $32 million net loss last year, which translated into losses of -$2.03 per share. That weak showing was primarily the result of soft performance in the healthcare-apparel division, where in the fourth quarter SGC undertook a $6 million incremental pre-tax non-cash inventory write-down.

Looking ahead, SGC is forecasting that total company 2023 sales will be in the range of $585 million to $595 million. The Florida-headquartered company is predicting annual earnings per share of $0.92 to $0.97.

“We are optimistic that business conditions should gradually improve throughout the year for healthcare apparel and momentum will build during the year for branded products,” said SGC CEO Michael Benstock. “Contact centers will continue producing double-digit top-line growth. The end result should be solid full-year financial performance for SGC, driven by significant growth in the back half of the year.”

*This article was updated to include that the HPI integration with BAMKO was another important factor in success.