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President of Delta Apparel Division That Services Promo Market Resigns

The Top 40 supplier also saw another executive depart and a $23.5 million real estate deal crumble as the shadow of bankruptcy looms.

A $23.5 million real estate deal has fallen through and two more company leaders are departing as the woes for reeling Top 40 supplier Delta Apparel (asi/49172) keep coming amid talk of a potential bankruptcy.

A June 11 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that Matthew J. Miller has resigned, effective immediately, his position as president of the apparel manufacturer’s Delta Group. That division of the company includes, but isn’t limited to, business conducted with the promotional products industry.

Matt Miller

Matt Miller resigned as Delta Group president this week.

Meanwhile, Justin M. Grow, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Delta Apparel, moved up the effective date of his resignation from July 2 to June 5, the filing indicated.

In another move, Elkay Partners, NY exercised a discretionary right and terminated its hitherto planned $23.5 million purchase of Delta Apparel’s 35-acre campus in Fayetteville, NC.

A contract entered into in February of this year would have had Elkay Partners buying the property and then leasing the land/facilities to Delta Apparel or its affiliate, with the initial rental term having been set at 10.5 years.

The deal’s death and the executive departures follow fast upon the late-May forced resignation of former Delta Apparel CEO Robert W. Humphreys – and a week after two members of the publicly traded firm’s board of directors quit their posts.

Filing for bankruptcy and a potential sale of Delta Apparel’s popular retail brand Salt Life are reportedly among the options on the table for the hemorrhaging supplier.

In May, Delta Apparel appointed Tim Pruban to serve as chief restructuring officer. An expert in handling financially distressed companies, Pruban’s specialties include business restructuring, asset recovery, liquidation management and asset sales.

Miller joined Delta Apparel in 2022. He came from outside the apparel/promotional products industry, having previously been interim chief financial officer at Ardmore Home Designs and president and CEO of flooring company Interface Americas, among other roles.

Grow started a second stint with Delta Apparel in 2022. Other past positions were outside the industry: He’d served in leadership roles for ScanSource Inc., a Fortune 1000 technology distributor, and 3V Sigma USA Inc., a producer of advanced specialty chemicals.

Delta Apparel has been sustaining losses as its sales plummet.

In May, the firm reported that its fiscal half-year total company revenue was about $158.9 million – a 27% year-over-year decrease. For the six-month period, Delta Apparel suffered a loss of about $44.8 million, or -$6.38 per share.

In the 2023 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, Delta Apparel had a $33.2 million annual loss and sales fell 14%. Based on estimated 2022 North American promotional products revenue of $49.6 million, Delta Apparel ranked 37th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry. The new list is due out this summer.