British home shopping specialist J.P. Boden & Co Ltd, London,
will enter the German market at the end of August. Boden
markets its own branded smart-casual clothing (linen, chinos,
preppy shirts) by Internet/catalogue and represents the style of
the English middle class. The catalogue has 196 pages and
focuses on womenswear. Mens- and childrenswear will be
available online.

According to marketing director Mark Binnington, Boden will
circulate 360.000 books in Germany during the autumn/
winter season during the months of August, September and
October. The womens wear offering will be quite similar to its
English counterpart (212 pages) and will also be available on the
Internet.

The German market will be handled out of the UK, while
Patrice V. Freytag, managing partner of direct marketing
consultancy BBR Associates is acting as Boden’s representative
in Germany. In addition, Boden is using a German call centre
(Sympatel). The Company is shipping parcels from Boden’s ware-
house in Leicester. Returns are delivered to a German address
before they are being shipped to Leicester. For fiscal year 2006,
Boden had turnover of GBP 128.5 million and a profit of GBP
22.7 million. For the current year, Boden expects turnover of
GBP 160 million. The Company has an Internet share of total
sales of 65%. Source: Textilwirtschaft, August 2007. English
translation of the German original.