Tough trading for N Brown
Catalogue retailer looking to multi-channel expansion
Home shopping firm N Brown is looking to a diversification into new retailing channels to boost its performance as its battles against tough times for the mail order market.
The company, which operate catalogue brands including Simply Be and Ambrose Wilson, told its annual meeting that turnover is down by 1.9 percent across the first 18 weeks of the year after “a difficult trading period in the retail sector”.
N Brown said its core clothing and footwear catalogue sales have held up, but a tightening of credit policies continues to hit in home and leisure sales.
A push into the multi channel arena has seen sales through the company’s websites increase, and this autumn sees the launch of Express Shopping Channel, a satellite television joint venture with publisher Northern and Shell.
The company said: “A number of measures to drive the business forward, including further extensions to the product ranges, have been initiated. We expect the effect of these, and targeted cost reductions, to result in an improving performance as the year unfolds.”
