Conner Industries, Inc., a leading provider of lumber, industrial wood crates & pallets, and integrated packaging solutions, announced Tuesday the acquisition of Kirkland Sales Inc., a custom foam fabricator, to expand its market share as an integrated transportation packaging provider combining wood, foam, plastics and corrugate components.
This latest investment marks the company’s fifth acquisition in their integrated packaging division and highlights their intention to bring customized solutions via the mixed material packaging market, both in Texas and on a national stage, with facilities in Garland (Dallas/Fort Worth), Lewisburg (Tennessee), Tulsa (Oklahoma), Montgomery, (Alabama), and Guthrie (Kentucky).
With the Kirkland location near Conner’s Garland facility, Conner plans to consolidate the capabilities of their new acquisition with their current facility, deepening their know-how and capabilities, and growing their customer reach.
The Garland facility recently underwent a 53% expansion of its own with a growth of the location to over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space and new ISO and AS certifications in anticipation of this acquisition. Both the move and the acquisition allow for expanded production capacity in the Dallas/Fort Worth market and enable Conner to provide a broader range of products. It also serves to increase efficiency for government and DoD contracts, giving them a decided advantage over competitors.
“With its expertise in custom foam fabrication, as well as decades of experience fabricating gasket and plastic materials, Kirkland Sales serves as an ideal acquisition to broaden our integrated packaging offerings to both new and existing customers,” says David Dixon, CEO of Conner Industries, Inc. “In addition to expanding into military, defense, and other new verticals, this acquisition exemplifies Conner’s commitment to providing customers with the ability to protect their goods throughout transportation and handling and is an important strategic development for us in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.”
In addition to this acquisition, Conner recently announced Tito Robledo as the General Manager of their Guardian facility in Dallas. With over 18 years of experience in both the foam and packaging industries, Robledo brings a wealth of knowledge to enable the company to continue to grow in the integrated packaging space, both within the Dallas-Fort Worth area and nationwide. Conner looks forward to utilizing his expertise to provide a smooth transition for Kirkland customers.
“As one of the dominant players in the integrated packaging space, we saw Conner as our partner of choice and a perfect fit for Kirkland Sales as they continue to expand their reach into growing markets in the Dallas area,” says David Kirkland, of Kirkland Sales Inc. “Given Conner’s ability to service customers and their similar approach to providing unique packaging solutions, Kirkland will continue to provide customers with protective packaging, custom foam fabrication, and gasket fabrication while providing solutions that meet a demanding transportation and handling environment.”
