Fingerhut Cos. has restarted production on several catalogs that were halted after Federated Department Stores Inc. announced in January that it would close the subsidiary.

Employees on paid leave from several production areas have been called back to help with the work, underway in a number of facilities in Minnesota, said Fingerhut spokesman Ben Saukko.

The decision to resume production follows the signing Feb. 21 of a non-binding letter of intent for owner Federated Department Stores Inc. to sell the catalog to a group led by businessman Peter Lytle.

Business Development Group Acquisitions Inc., Lytle’s firm, has until week’s end to make a decision about the purchase. An announcement is expected within the next few days.

And while the resumption of catalog production has prompted speculation that a agreement may be near, Fingerhut’s Saukko cautioned that the restarting of work on some titles does not equate to a sealed deal.

“We’re taking preliminary steps towards the possibility of [mailing] some catalogs as a result of the signing of intent, but this does not signify that a deal has been closed or that an agreement has been reached,” he said.

Saukko declined to comment on which versions or the size of the Fingerhut titles in production. The catalog company had approximately 80 versions in circulation and a 4.1 million-name customer base.

Marshall Masko, Lytle’s partner in the Wayzata, MN-based Business Development Group, said his firm had been asked to withhold comment at this time.

The 54-year-old Fingerhut, headquartered in Minnetonka, MN, has about 6,000 employees whose jobs are mostly in a state of flux. Thousands of employees have been sent warning letters giving them 60 days advance notice that the plants they work in would close.

The Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, which represents 1,500 Fingerhut employees, has pressured Federated to restart catalog mailings. Representatives for the union had said before a rally of hundreds of Fingerhut employees that Federated’s actions were not on par with its statements that it was taking steps to find a buyer.

On Jan. 16, Cincinnati, OH-based Federated said that it would close Fingerhut and sell off whatever assets it could if a buyer could not be found. Fingerhut mailed its last catalog late in January.

Fingerhut Cos. has begun work to complete several catalogs that had been in production prior to Federated Department Stores Inc.’s decision in January to close the catalog.

The work resumes following the signing Feb. 21 of a non-binding letter of intent for owner Federated Department Stores Inc. to sell the catalog to a group led by businessman Peter Lytle, Fingerhut spokesman Ben Saukko said.

Business Development Group Acquisitions Inc., Lytle’s firm, has until week’s end to make a decision about the purchase.

Saukko cautioned however that the resumption of production does not equate to a sealed deal.

On Jan. 16, Federated Department Stores said that it would close its Fingerhut subsidiary and sell off whatever assets it could if a buyer could not be found. The firm mailed its last catalog in late January.