Simply Be crosses the Atlantic

Following a positive financial performance in 2009, which saw multibrand cataloguer N Brown Group increase sales by 4.2 percent to £690 million, the company is launching its Simply Be catalogue in the US.

This summer will see the plus-size apparel title launch in the States via a catalogue and website offering. The Simply Be USA catalogue will have an initial print run of 1 million and as it doesn’t currently have any US-based customers, N Brown will use rented lists for its first mailing. All orders will be fulfilled from N Brown’s UK base, but the company has set up a call centre and returns facility in Florida to service its American customers. Chief executive Alan White told Catalogue e-business that he expects Simply Be’s US turnover to reach up to £2 million by the end of its first year.

Simply Be is also ramping up customer recruitment activity in Germany, where it has generated sales of £2.4 million since its launch last spring.