Hanover Direct grows web portion of its sales from 15% to 20%

Internet sales accounted for 20.3% of sales for the seven brands of web and catalog merchant Hanover Direct Inc., not including sales by third-party fulfillment companies or membership programs, the company reported today. In the prior year, web revenue accounted for 15.4% of total revenue.

Net revenues for the year ended Dec. 28, 2002, however, decreased 14% vs. the year before to $457.6 million from $532.2 million. $40.5 million of the decrease was due to discontinued operations, the company reports. Revenues for continuing businesses decreased by $34.1 million or 6.9%. The company says the decrease in revenue for continuing businesses was due almost entirely to a reduction in unprofitable catalog circulation.

Hanover Direct reported a net loss of $9.1 million for the year, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million for the prior year and an operating loss of $400,000 vs. $24 million the year before.

Hanover Direct’s brands include Domestications, The Company Store, Company Kids, Silhouettes, International Male, Scandia Down, Gump`s By Mail and the Gump`s retail store in San Francisco. It also operates Keystone Internet Services LLC as a third party fulfillment operation to provide logistical, IT and fulfillment services to the company`s catalogs and web sites.