S&S Worldwide acquires Sally Distributors

(Catalog Age) S&S Worldwide, which sells games, crafts, and activities to schools, rehabilitation centers, and other institutions, has acquired substantially all the assets of Minneapolis-based toys and novelties marketer Sally Distributors. S&S paid cash for Sally, though the price was not disclosed.

The acquisition of Sally’s 3,000-item line of toys, gifts, and novelties enhances S&S’s product offering, said S&S vice president/general counsel Adam Schwartz. The deal also expands S&S’s reach to restaurants and amusement centers.

S&S Worldwide serves primarily the childcare, nursing, and physical education markets. Sally mails 900,000 copies of its 104-page catalog a year; S&S mails about 5 million a year. S&S plans to increase Sally’s circulation as well as fold its operations into S&S’s 300,000-sq.-ft. facility in Colchester, CT. “Our investments in information systems and material handling equipment will allow us to serve the combined customer base of both companies from one central facility,” Schwartz said.