Hanover Direct, Weehawken, NJ, had second-quarter revenue of $131.2 million, down 2.5% from $134.6 million in second-quarter 1998. During the same time, the company's net loss increased from $4.9 million to $5.8 million. For the first half of 1999, the company had revenue of $259 million, virtually unchanged from the same period in 1998, although its net loss increased from $9.5 million to $10 million.
Some of the losses came from Hanover Direct's non-core catalog brands: Among its core brands, Silhouettes, Domestications, The Company Store, Gump's, International Male and Improvements, revenue actually increased by $11.8 million, or 5.1%, over first-half 1998's levels.
But the company also attributed part of its losses to efforts focused on migrating customers to its Web sites. Internet sales amounted to $6.6 million during the quarter, a 150% increase over first-quarter 1999 and a 400% increase over second-quarter 1998. Web services, however, lost $5 million during the most recent quarter, largely due to company infrastructure investments.
