- Half-year sales for the home shopping division of
Findel, which includes Kitbag,
Express Gifts, Kleeneze, and
the Webb Group, were up 4.5 percent from last
year, to £171.8 million for the six months ended 3rd
October. Sales within the educational division, which includes
Hope Education and NES
Arnold, fell 20 percent, however, to £74.5
million. “Just over half of this shortfall was accounted
for by reductions in export and projects which are, by their
nature, high value and irregular in timing,” Findel said
in a statement. Within the healthcare group, sales increased 1
percent, to £30.9 million. In its statement, Findel refers
to growing the healthcare business “over the next three
years”, which seems to scotch rumours that it is looking
to sell the unit. Overall, Findel posted a statutory loss
before tax of £21.1 million, a turnaround from the
£1.8 million in profit it enjoyed a year ago, due in part
to restructuring costs. - Tools cataloguer/retailer Screwfix suffered
a 3.8 percent decline in third-quarter sales, to £122
million for the 13 weeks ended 31st October. Almost 60 percent of
its sales came from its 147 trade counters. Total UK and Ireland
sales for parent company Kingfisher, which also
owns the B&Q retail chain, rose 4.4 percent, to
£1.09 billion. Total company sales increased 5.5 percent, to
£2.69 billion. -
Mouser Electronics is upping its game on the
Continent. EE Times reports that it
has released its first fully translated German catalogue and
website and plans to launch local websites for the Czech
Republic, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Sweden before the
end of the year. -
Ikea has launched an iPhone app that enables
users to download its 2010 catalogue to their handset, reports
Cabinet Maker.
- The Salford
Advertiser takes a look at the offerings in the
Hawkin’s Bazaar, Lakeland, and
Brigantia Needlework catalogues.
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