Sales at parent of Telescopes.com and Binoculars.com doubled in 2004

Annual revenues for Thralow Inc. retail web sites, which include Telescopes.com and Binoculars.com, reached $12.58 million in 2004, more than double 2003’s $6 million, the company tells InternetRetailer.com.

December sales totaled $3.22 million, up 129% from $1.4 million in December 2003.

Duluth, MN-based Thralow Inc. operates 19 specialty web sites, many selling optical equipment for outdoor enthusiasts, sports fans, hunters, anglers, naturalists and amateur astronomers. The company recently began marketing cookware through Pans.com.

Binoculars.com accounted for more than half of revenue, with sales of $6.9 million in 2004, up 80% from $3.88 million in 2003. Telescopes.com accounted for more a fourth of all revenue, with sales reaching $3.6 million in 2004, nearly five times 2003’s sales of $740,140. Peepers.com, which sells eyewear, had 2004 sales of $576,836, compared with $509,322 in 2003. Pans.com had sales of $61,095, compared with $48,188 in 2003.

CEO Daniel Thralow says he expects the company to experience similar increases in revenues during 2005. He says the company will address capacity issues at its downtown Duluth facility this year. Its current quarters are inadequate to sustain triple-digit growth into the future, he says.