News roundup--Sports Direct, The Dept Store, Vente-Privee, more

Sportswear retailer Sports Direct has acquired KickBack Sports, an online seller of sports equipment and clothing, for an undisclosed sum. According to the Express, the deal is part of a drive to bring more brand names to Sports Direct.

Following the success of its concert tickets and music album sales in France, secret sales website Vente-privee.com will start selling music and tickets in the UK this year. During 2011, Vente-privee.com generated a turnover of €1.07 billion (£895.6 million) in Europe, representing an 11 percent increase on 2010.

As part of its strategy to add more editorial content to its website, online cosmetics and skincare retailer Feelunique.com has appointed Harper’s Bazaar beauty director at large Newby Hands as editorial director. Hands, who joins Feelunique.com later this spring, will retain her position at the magazine. She joins at time of general expansion at Feelunique, which is opening a marketing and brand relations office in London to complement its Jersey head office. Victoria Chalmers, formerly beauty director at Modus Publicity, L’Oreal Luxury Division, LVMH and Marks & Spencer, joins the company to head the PR and communications function for UK and international markets. Feelunique.com is set to record turnover of £26.5 million in the year ended March 2011, up from £16 million in the previous 12 months. It is forecasting annual growth of more than 60 percent for the coming year.

New CatEx TV channel The Dept Store launches today. Produced by The Broadcast House, the channel will air from 10.30am today on Sky channel 681. To find out how the channel came to be, read Diary of a TV channel in our February issue.

Aurum, whose brands include jewellers Mappin & Webb and Watches of Switzerland, saw a 10.2 percent rise in underlying sales, while operating profit soared 53 percent to £18.3 million in the year to 29th January, on revenues of £300.6 million, reports the Independent.