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Acquisition of linen processing company greatly expands offerings for Kentucky rental operations

By Connie Lannan

February 7, 2023

Goff Tents & Events logoThe Goff family brand of rental offerings, which operates Goff Tents & Events in Nicholasville, Ky., and Purdon Rentals in Lexington, Ky., has now expanded with the purchase of Mr. Linen, a premier linen rental company that has served customers in central Kentucky since 2011.

The acquisition, which became official Dec. 1, 2022, was not a planned purchase, according to Ian Goff, CERP, owner, Goff Tents & Events.

“Richie Miracle, the owner of Mr. Linen, called me out of the blue one day this past summer and said he was ready to go in a different direction and asked us to buy his operation,” Goff says. “I was well aware of the business and his company’s brand as he had done linen processing for us in the past and we had subrented from each other for many years. After the acquisition of Purdon, I never thought we would do another one, but this came to us when we were already educated on how linen processing worked, and he had a great team in place, which would make it a smooth transition. We are very grateful for the opportunity.”

Beginning in the summer, Goff and Miracle started working out the details of how the transition would go, establishing processes, etc.

“Timing-wise, we needed to make it work when I could be available to oversee the transition. Richie is still part of the process, here every day, showing me the ropes and showing me why he has done things a certain way,” Goff says. “Mr. Linen does a lot of specialty linen for about 200 clients. A lot of its business has been done on the industrial and corporate side — not weddings and events. The standards that we will bring from the Goff Tents & Events and Purdon Rentals side will help elevate the Mr. Linen brand to another level.”

With this purchase, Goff estimates his linen offerings have increased exponentially. “Mr. Linen has probably three to four times the amount of linen that we have. The product offerings that it will put into the stores will be immense. I would venture to say that we now have close to 100,000 pieces of linen. We are still working our way through the inventory and putting it into our point-of-sale system. Thanks to this acquisition, I believe we are probably the largest specialty linen company in the state of Kentucky,” Goff says.

This is a far cry from where Goff Tents & Events began. “Goff Tents & Events never processed linen in-house. Before we did the Purdon acquisition, we were having Purdon process our linen. That purchase allowed us to get into the linen processing business. Whereas we were working with one press and one small machine, we will now be running nine washers and three presses, running two shifts a day, seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Goff says.

Mr. Linen will remain a stand-alone business — just now under the Goff family umbrella of brands, serving as the linen processing center for all three companies, according to Goff. “It will operate independently at its current location. All 26 employees of Mr. Linen are being retained. The operation will have its own manager, who has been with Mr. Linen and is phenomenal. We are so blessed with the staff who are at the company. That is very rare in today’s world to have such high-quality people handling this area. The Mr. Linen staff has really embraced the changes we have made, making it a really positive situation for everyone involved,” he says.

Goff sees the purchase as a win-win for everyone, especially for their customers. “I think it will be a great thing for them because a lot of times in the past our customers might have needed one or two more of a certain thing. If it wasn’t in stock, we had to order it and try to get it in time. Now we have so many more options, more sizes and so many more fabrics to offer. That will be a great extra service to our customers. Plus, the standards that we are bringing in from Goff and Purdon will be a great service to Mr. Linen’s existing clientele as well as future clients because we plan to grow this area of the business,” he says.