1. Why are you selling A Christmas Story House and related assets?
The time is right personally, for the owner, Brian Jones and the perfect time for the eventual buyer to take over. Brian Jones started the business in 2003 with a leg lamp, leveraged strategic growth opportunities along the way, and now, 19 years later, here we are. We’ve built a very successful and profitable business with a strong financial track record and we are ready to pass the torch onto the next owner. We’ll be excited to see where they take it.
2. What’s included in the sale – house, museum, gift shop, adjacent properties, etc.?
This is so much more than just the house where A Christmas Story was filmed – which in and of itself is amazing. It’s the house, the neighboring Bumpus House, the museum, the gift shop, the online retail business and a warehouse.
3. How would you describe to a potential buyer what you are selling and the benefits of owning it?
This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to own not only a treasured piece of Americana but also a profitable e-commerce, manufacturing and hospitality business with significant growth potential. It’s a diversified business running on multiple cylinders with many revenue streams. Beyond that, it’s a fun business and so gratifying to be able to share the house and everything related to it with the fans. It’s really a one-of-a-kind opportunity to carry on and even expand a legacy.
4. What is your asking price?
We are not going to market with a listing price, which is not unusual for this type of offering. We’re presenting the opportunity to interested buyers and we expect some to come back with interesting offers.
5. Why aren’t you putting a list price on the business?
We certainly have a valuation in mind but there are no real comparables – there’s nothing else out there with this particular combination of assets. It includes a singular piece of Americana and pop culture – the one and only house where A Christmas Story was filmed. But you could also characterize it as an e-commerce business with a tourist attraction that’s also about collectibles, memorabilia and hospitality. There are so many things that make this offer unique, in a class of its own. Having said that, we will share all relevant information with qualified buyers under a confidentiality agreement so they can do their due diligence and get all the information they need to put together an offer.
6. Many businesses are bought and sold without a lot of publicity. Why are you marketing the business in this way?
We’re being very open and transparent with this process because we want to make the opportunity known to as many qualified buyers as we can. We don’t want that one person who really wants to own this business to miss out because they didn’t happen to know the right people or be in a certain network. We think this approach will give us the best chance of finding the right buyer.