THE mail-order retailer N Brown is to make its first foray into international trade by launching a German edition of its Simply Be catalogue next spring.

The company, which mainly caters for the fuller-figured woman in a range of online and paper catalogues, continues to defy the retail gloom with sales growth of 9%. Its range of fashion, home and gift lines have, until now, been available only in Britain.

At this Tuesday’s annual meeting, chief executive Alan White will outline the company’s plan to take one of its most successful titles overseas.

The company has worked with consultants to try out the concept in Germany and is now confident in the launch of its spring/summer 2009 catalogue.

N Brown is also in the advanced stages of developing technology to open up its existing websites to overseas customers for brands such as JD Williams, Viva la Diva and Jacamo. It expects to launch this service by the year end.

Online sales are continuing to rise at a rate of 40% a year and, contrary to the credit crunch-related problems hitting much of the high street, sales of homeware and technology are up by 12%.

The upward trend in sales of goods such as flat-screen TVs is helped by the age profile of N Brown. Average customers, typically in their fifties, are often late adopters of many new technology trends.

White is also expected to update investors on the group’s exposure to bad debts from catalogue customers. To date N Brown has expressed confidence in its ability to manage defaulters and it is believed that there has been no significant movement in arrears.

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