Television shopping network HSN will expand into mail order with the $33.4 million acquisition of Hanover Direct Inc.'s Improvements catalog and Web site for home and garden products, Hanover said yesterday.
The sale is part of an ongoing strategic realignment plan for Weehawken, NJ-based Hanover. The company's Keystone subsidiary will continue to offer fulfillment services for Improvements in a three-year deal with St. Petersburg, FL-based HSN.
Hanover will use $5.5 million from the sale to repay debt owed to Congress Financial Corp. The rest of the money will go toward working capital to support the company's vendor base.
Hanover now is looking to unload its International Male, Gump's Retail, Gump's By Mail and Silhouettes catalogs and sites. Their sale is meant to help Hanover improve its financial position and focus more on home-style properties such as The Company Store, Domestications and Scandia Down.
For HSN, an arm of USA Networks Inc., the purchase of Improvements is part of a plan to expand its distribution platforms and cover new customers through TV, the Internet and now catalogs.
