Webtogs, the outdoor equipment etailer, acquired the Purekit
brand name, website domain and customer list in September and now
plans to grow the multichannel aspect of the business.
Purekit, which acquired Fitness Footwear in November 2010 and
Extremepie.com in 2011, called in the liquidators in August. The
two newly acquired brands were sold to Internet Fusion, which
operates online retailers Surffusion and Bikefusion.
Webtogs had been considering creating another brand in order to
develop its multichannel strategy and Purekit-an established
online brand-gave it a head start, especially in terms of
SEO.
“I knew the owners of Purekit from Field & Trek, where we
used to work together,” says Keith Lavelle, managing
director of Webtogs, “and approached them as soon as I
heard they had ceased trading.” Lavelle says he was purely
interested in the name and website domain as
“Purekit” lends itself well to diversification.
Webtogs now plans to introduce own-brand goods such as water
bottles and Purekit socks.
A fundamental part of Purekit’s multichannel strategy, explains
Lavelle, is opening stores. “Webtogs doesn’t make for a
good name above the door,” says Lavelle, while Purekit is
much more adaptable. He aims to open a retail outlet, potentially
out-of-town, in the south west of England in early 2013.
Webtogs has ambitious plans overall. The £3 million business
expects to grow by 30 percent in 2012. Most of the growth, says
Lavelle, will be driven by an expansion of the Webtogs product
range. “We’re going to stick with the outdoors, but just a
bit broader.”
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