On the Direct Marketing Acquisition Hunt

(PRWEB) June 29, 2012

Bernard Findley has been restructuring direct marketing businesses since 2007 and is currently seeking out additional projects and investments focusing on the vertically integrated direct marketing business model. Prior to 2007 he was involved in a number of different multichannel businesses including medical devices, consumer products, promotional products, and marketing services.

Mr. Findley states, “The economy has taken its toll on many industries like printing and promotional products. The downturn in the economy also put pressure on companies with sales models that relied heavily on old line cataloging or multi-layered distribution models.” Findley continues, “There are tremendous opportunities to broaden the sales pipeline with digital marketing and lever business models in which a company manufactures it owns goods.”

Since 2007, Bernard Findley has worked on sixteen brands creating value where the future for each brand looked bleak. Today these brands continue to sell and distribute product with new partners who have embraced the value that was resurrected through Findley’s efforts. A number of the brands are listed below:

•     New Century Direct, a direct marketer, focused primarily on archival storage and office organization products. The company sold its products through four brands; Light Impressions, Century Photo, Century Business, and FileRite.
•     Russell & Miller, a direct marketer, focused primary on printed in-store retail signs and displays. The company sold its products through four brands; Russell & Miller, National Clothier Supply, Valu Display, and SaleSigns.
•     Corvest, a promotional products supplier, focused primarily on totes, bags, hats, pens, penlights, and plush animals. The company sold its products through three brands; Advalite, Toppers, and It’s All Greek To Me.
•     Capella Brands, Inc., a wholesale suppler, focused on the apparel products. The company sold its products through two brands; Hot Cotton and New York Laundry.

Bernard Findley does not have a particular industry or product line focus but rather a preference of the direct or multi-channel marketing sales model, especially catalog and online, along with the ability to manufacture the goods internally. “With a well managed supply chain, a brand can create tremendous margins by manufacturing as many of the product lines as possible. With direct marketing efforts additional margins are achieved as there are fewer markups throughout the sales process, Findley states”.

Mr. Findley also takes a global approach to restructuring and operating its businesses. Operations have utilized business and manufacturing services in Mexico, China, India, and the Philippines. While Mr. Findley attempts to maintain as much “US made” and serviced product, opportunities to lever the low cost global economy are analyzed and implemented when there are solid business cases to do so. Over the years, Mr. Findley estimates about 50% of its products are made in the US along with 75% of business operations reside in the US. Recently, logistics has made a greater impact on the operating model. The proximity of the factory, warehouse, and end user customer distribution points significant impact the financial performance of the company. Specifically, freight and duty expenses need to be offset by inventory carrying costs and transportation expenses to the end user. With an extremely difficult lending environment, often decisions are made based on cash flow rather than profit margins.