Industry Sales Up in 2014 Q4
The promotional products industry as a whole enjoyed a strong fourth quarter in 2014. According to reports by Promotional Products Association (PPAI) and the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), a majority of distributors and suppliers reported sales increase over the same quarter a year ago.
Distributors sales were up 5.9% in 2014 compared to the same period a years ago, according to ASI, with 55 percent of distributors reporting an increase compared to 17% reporting a decline. PPAI reported that 65 percent of distributors reported an increase during that period while 31% experienced a decline.
Suppliers, according to PPAI, realized a 7.8 percent increase in net sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. ASI reported similar results, with supplier sales up 4.6 percent.
PPAI also noted that 53.4 percent of distributors reported achieving their sales targets during the fourth quarter of 2014 and 84.5 percent said they had a profitable fourth quarter, with just over 50 percent saying their profits increased. Just under 44 percent of distributors reporting writing more orders and 45.6 percent said their average order size increased.
Staples to Buy Accolade Promotion Group
Office supplies retailer Staple has reached an agreement with Golf Town Canada, Inc. to buy Accolade Promotion Group, a distributor of promotional products in Canada, NASDAQ reported.
Terms and conditions of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Accolade Promotion Group, currently a division of Golf Town, will become part of the Staples family and its current managing director Dan Craig will become the managing director of SPP Canada. Pam Westman, the current managing director of Staples Promotional Products in Canada will lead the integration of the acquisition and spearhead global expansion for Staples Promotional Products.
Visstun, Digispec, CounterPoint Hire New Marketing Managers
The Visstun, Digispec, and CounterPoint family recently hired Lisa Jacobe and Robyn Mauthe as new additions to the marketing team. As marketing managers, Jacobe and Mauthe will be responsible for marketing programs and initiatives developed to drive sales growth, as well as creating strategic marketing plans, managing project schedules, maintaining marketing materials and overseeing online media for all brands.