Niche Retail plans to launch 4 more online stores this year

Already a specialty e-retailer of car seats, radar detectors and jogging strollers through several web sites, Niche Retail LLC is planning to build four or more additional niche retail sites this year, co-founder and partner Brad Sorock, tells InternetRetailer.com. His targeted niches: more that cater to children`s products, which appear to be recession-proof, he says.

Sorock declines to offer more details on his planned niches, but notes that, overall, Niche Retail`s 8 existing sites have been experiencing exponential growth. "May was up nearly 450% over May 2002," he says.

Sorock says Niche Retail will build its sites with its web site development toolkit from NetLedger Inc. The Web Store Developer Kit, which is part of NetLedger`s NetSuite web site management application, enables Niche Retail to build a common shopping experience across all of its sites. "It makes it easier to have a common checkout and to control merchandising of each site from a single location," he says.

The system also provides Sorock and his staff with browser-based access to critical data such as customer buying behavior and customer service records.

Niche Retail currently operates 8 retail web sites: SuuntoWatches.com, JoggingStroller.com, TrekkingPoles.com, WaterBounce.com, RadarSource.com, the weather-instrument-related KestrellMeters.com, SpareBed.com and EliteCarSeat.com.