Wholesaler Inventive Solutions to move into retail with plans for web site

A Bend, OR-based wholesaler of gadgets for home and workshop says it will expand into retail this month with the launch of its own b2c web site and catalog. Inventive Solutions Inc., which acquires unique household products and tools from overseas, currently supplies about 120 retail outlets and mail order catalogs.

The company says it will launch the new site and regionally distributed catalog in January, after becoming dissatisfied with the way retailers were marketing and selling its lines. “The items were inefficiently marketed and sold at extraordinarily high prices. It’s common practice within the mail order industry to mark up products 150% to 300%. We can operate within margins half of that, passing those savings on to the consumer,” says CEO John Gibney.

The five year-old company specializes in tools, household items and other products that are in unique or very limited distribution in the U.S. A product research committee is charged with seeking out products internationally and quality testing new items as they are added to the offering, the company says.