Scotts & Co, the multititle catalogue group
which operates Scotts of Stow and The
Original Gift Company amongst others, has acquired
apparel cataloguer Artigiano for an undisclosed
sum. Artigiano was purchased out of administration by Scotts &
Co, which bought the business, assets and took on all 108
employees in Artigiano’s London and Isle of Wight locations.
Artigiano’s founders Claire and Glyn Locke are no longer involved
with the business.
Going forward, Nigel Swabey, executive chairman of Scotts & Co,
says he does not want to make changes to Artigiano’s front-end.
He is excited by the company’s forthcoming spring catalogue and
pleased with its design direction. As part of a larger group
Artigiano will benefit from Scotts & Co’s 9.3 million-strong
customer database and group buying power.
In related news, Scotts & Co is due to unveil its new vitamins
brand this week. Called Viva Vitality, the new
catalogue and website targets Scotts’ core over-50s customer
base.
According to its website, collectibles marketer Compton &
Woodhouse has “completed a major
reorganisation” and is under new ownership. It is now a
trading name of Owen & Williamson Ltd, a company incorporated on
27th October. A call to customer services confirmed that the
business is in the process of relocating its operations. It is
expected that the business will resume trading in early
December.
Children’s cataloguer/wholesaler Frugi will
unveil its relaunched website today. The new site is built on the
Magento platform and uses the Mamut order management system to
support back-end processes. The retail site now features bigger
product images, a zoom function, filtering by size, colour or
theme, and a one page checkout. The trade side of the business is
now a separate entity online, where business customers can log
into their accounts, download promotional product images, and
check on the status of order.
Park Group, the savings-club catalogue business
that launched a range of prepaid cards earlier this year, has
secured 51 corporate customers and 22 retail brands in the first
three months since the launch of the scheme.
According to Reuters, US-based apparel retailer J
Crew is close to being acquired by TPG Capital and
Leonard Green & Partners, for approximately $2.8 billion
(£1.76 million).
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