What It Means if Cabinets To Go and LL Flooring Merge

The cabinet retailer Cabinets To Go has put in an offer to buy the former Lumber Liquidators. They have one thing in common…besides wood.

They are two of the biggest retailers of wood and wood-related products in the country and if things go according to plans – at least one person’s plans – they could become one company soon.

In late May, Cabinets To Go, one of the industry’s largest sellers of cabinets with close to 100 stores, made an offer to buy LL Flooring, the 400-store chain that was known until 2020 as Lumber Liquidators. CTG founder and CEO Thomas Sullivan reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had already acquired 10% of the shares of LL and wanted to buy the rest.

For LL, the unsolicited offer comes as it continues to deal with the fallout in the home market following the pandemic era boom and the sharp spike in mortgage rates that followed. It responded to the offer by saying its board and advisors would study the proposal and respond accordingly, without setting any timetable.

A potential merger of the two companies would create a formidable competitor to other retailers in these two key home improvement and remodeling categories, including Home Depot, Lowes, Floor & Décor and even Ikea. Cabinets is privately owned and does not disclose its revenue numbers but LL, which is public, reported $1.1 billion in sales last year.

The two brands coming together would also complete a circle for Sullivan. When he founded CTG in 2008, it came 12 years after he founded another retailer: Lumber Liquidators.

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