Online retailer Thralow experienced 68% sales boost in Q2 vs. year ago

Second-quarter sales at Duluth, MN-based online retailer Thralow Inc. increased 68.3% to $4.95 million from $2.94 million in Q2 last year, the company reports.

For the past 12 months, Thralow’s total sales reached $16 million, nearly double the $8.35 million for the same period a year earlier.

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Thralow, which ranks No. 260 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, sells via several web sites, including Binoculars.com, Telescopes.com, and Peepers.com. In addition, it operates a number of web sites to test concepts, including Pans.com, OperaGlasses.com, the Spanish site Telescopios.com and 15 other niche sites.

Binoculars.com was the company’s leader in Q2, with sales of $2.79 million, up 38% over Q2 2004’s $2 million. Telescopes.com also experienced a large increase, with $1.67 million in Q2 sales, up 172% over $615,981 in Q2 2004.

Peepers.com, which sells eyewear, had sales of $238,442 in the second quarter, an increase of more than 16% over the $205,151 in the second quarter of 2004. Second-quarter sales by Pans.com, a test site marketing fine cookware, grew by 159.8% from $17,005 to $44,181 between 2004 and 2005.

Daniel Thralow, CEO, said he expects sales to taper off slightly during the third quarter but to rebound thereafter. He said the company is on pace to hit $23 million in sales for 2005 but may only reach $20 million – in large part because of space constraints. Thralow says the company’s headquarters in downtown Duluth have been too small to permit the year-over-year sales doubling experienced through 2004. He says the company has been attempting to secure new quarters–with room for additional inventory—in time for the holiday season.