Billy Martin may be entering a whole new ball game: catalogs. Billy Martin’s USA, a western lifestyle apparel and accessories retailer founded by the former Yankees baseball team manager in 1978, announced major expansion plans—including e-commerce and catalogs.
CEO Doug Newton, who founded the company with Martin, said Billy Martin’s USA has an agreement with New York-based investment bank Lanzet Global Securities to do an initial private placement for $1.5 million pending completion of its due diligence. “This should permit us to upgrade our stock listing to the NASD Bulletin Board later this year, and give us the wherewithal to implement our business plan to extend the ‘Billy Martin’s’ brand name to exciting product categories and markets both at home and abroad,” Newton said in a statement. (The company became public in October via a reverse merger with Hitech Resource Corp. which changed its corporate name to Billy Martin’s USA and its symbol to BMTN, after completing the acquisition of Billy Martin’s Western Wear, LA. Billy Martin’s USA is currently not an SEC reporting company.)
Billy Martin’s USA operates stores in New York, Los Angeles, East Hampton, NY, and Rancho Mirage, CA. Fueled by the current interest in all things American, the company’s expansion plans include a wholesale line of casual apparel; western-inspired home decor products; a cologne and home fragrance; a Billy Martin’s western barbecue food products and restaurant concept; and a western art and artifacts division. Newton said the company “will embrace e-commerce, and catalog marketing strategies, backed up by our 23-year-old brand name and brick-and-mortar experience.”