News
Acquisition breathes new life into John Partridge
continued from page 1
traffic and sales to our web and phone channels, and has a positive impact on footfall and sales in our shops too,” says cross-channel director Alison Lancaster. “Our magalogues are a great way for us to build our brand, showcase new collections, and entertain, engage and excite our customers about what’s happening at White Stuff—and recruit new customers too. We aim to make them smile, and if they feel a little happier after reading them, then we’re happy.”
From left: Gary Newbold, Nick Oliver and David Reay
John Partridge, the English country clothing label, is relaunching under new ownership and creative direction. Led by former Penny Plain managing director Nick Oliver, the label has secured an investment agreement with venture capital company FW Capital and business angel Anne Holliday. After leaving Penny Plain in 2007 and working in a different industry for the past few years, Oliver was looking to return to the apparel sector. He was introduced to fellow Partridge directors David Reay, a former Barbour, Jockey and Warnaco director, and Gary Newbold, former head of design at Barbour, through mutual friends. The trio concluded the deal, acquiring John Partridge from Bollin Group, in December 2010.
John Partridge was established in the 1960s and in its heyday, was sold through stockists
such as Selfridges and Liberty. After a few soft years, reinvigoration is key and Oliver intends to reintroduce the brand into the larger department stores in due course. The company’s other core targets are country clothing and sporting goods stores and independent fashion retailers. Behind the scenes, Oliver says the new company is still evolving, it has appointed a fulfilment house and is currently “putting the sales infrastructure in place”. Although fundamentally a wholesale brand, Oliver aims to get a direct-to-consumer website up and running in the near future.
In addition, the brand is using a network of agents and stockists to expand its presence in the UK and overseas. Oliver has plans to sell the brand into the USA, where John Partridge has had a presence in the past, but no decisions have yet been made.
A further testament to how the catalogue is still important to today’s customer, SportsDirect. com, which has 470 stores within the
SportsDirect.com Retail group as well as annual online sales of some £96 million, is launching its biggest ever catalogue this Christmas. Two million copies of the 724-page catalogue are being produced, representing the company’s largest investment in mail order to date. The catalogue includes more than 5,800 products, and features interviews from top athletes including Wayne Rooney, Paula Radcliffe and John McEnroe. In addition to specialist sections on specific sports such as rugby, football, golf and fitness, the catalogue will feature editorial such as expert advice and tips as well as competitions.
Far from being old-fashioned, the catalogue retains its relevance, as shown by younger- skewing brands embracing it. If you need further proof, just take a look at what Jack Wills, H&M and Asos are doing.
Howies targets France and Germany
Howies, the Wales-based Timberland- owned apparel brand, is set to launch local-language websites for its French and German customers. The international expansion will follow a relaunch of the company’s UK website in October. “We’ve been seeing increasing visits from Europe to our
.co.uk site over the past few years,” explains Alex Murphy, Howies’ web, marketing and PR coordinator. “We have seen strong engagement with site visits from Germany and France, which is why we are concentrating on launching
howies.de and
howies.fr before looking further afield.” Currently, Howies generates 10 percent
4
of online sales from overseas customers. But by “providing branded and product content in native languages and currencies, we hope to see even stronger engagement from overseas customers,” says Murphy. The French and German launch will be a springboard for further expansion. Murphy says that once the company is positive that it has “engaged a new core audience”, there is potential to grow the business internationally even more. In addition to a new design for the website, Howies is also improving operations behind the scenes and implementing new back-end systems.
Direct Commerce Catalogue e-business
www.catalog-biz.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48