By David Gill
The combination that acquired iconic housewares manufacturer Ronco in May has now added Popular Club, the catalog and Internet retailer, to its holdings and is looking to make other deals down the road.
Larry Nusbaum, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ronco, told HFN that he and the unnamed, New York-based hedge fund that swung both deals have ambitious plans for both more acquisitions and for Popular Club. Nusbaum, who will serve as chairman and interim CEO of Popular Club, also said a search is on for a permanent CEO for the catalog retailer.
Nusbaum said the future acquisitions he and the hedge fund are seeking would involve manufacturers of branded housewares and home-improvement products.
Regarding Popular Club, he said the intent is to run the company as an entity independent of Ronco. Popular Club’s catalog offers home furnishings such as housewares, textiles, and furniture, home-improvement products, cosmetics, apparel and jewelry, and targets consumers who live in urban areas.
In the Popular Club statement, Nusbaum described the retailer as a “perennial brand with a rich history and unique business model.” Speaking to HFN, he said Popular Club’s business at one time totaled $200 million in annual sales. But over the past three years, sales had plummeted to about $20 million a year.
The plan to “freshen up” Popular Club’s business, Nusbaum said, will include the Ronco model of selling products through television infomercials, advertising in magazines and newspapers, and marketing online. “We want to rebuild Popular Club through the same Ronco model, but as a separate asset,” he said.
The other synergy with Ronco will begin this month, with a large presentation of Ronco’s products in Popular Club’s fall catalog.
“We acquired the business because we believe that we can expand the Popular Club footprint from its Northeastern roots … with inspiring programs, upgraded and unique merchandise, and improved pricing,” Nusbaum said in the Popular Club statement.