N Brown eyes lucrative US market

HOME shopping group N Brown has taken its first step into the US market with the launch of a womenswear website and catalogue.

The Manchester-based group is targeting the plus-size clothing market, said to be worth $34bn in the US, with the launch of its Simply Be brand which is aimed at women in their thirties and forties.

N Brown will distribute one million catalogues across the US in the run up to Christmas. It follows a launch in Germany which pulled in revenue of £2.4m in its first year.

Chief executive Alan White told TheBusinessDesk earlier this year that the launch would cost the business around £2m in its first year. Orders will be dispatched from the UK but a contact centre has been set up in Florida to handle queries.

Mr White said: “At the moment there is not an equivalent to Simply Be in the US where the plus-size market is worth $34bn. Simply Be will offer US customers a wide range of fashionable products at affordable prices and we expect they will find our Autumn Winter range very appealing.”