Lookagain
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| Company type | Private limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Clothing retail |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Ann Steer (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Owner | Freeman Grattan Holdings (FGH) |
| Parent | Otto GmbH |
Lookagain.co.uk is an online fashion, footwear and homeware retailer. Look again is a generalist brand, and is part of Freeman Grattan Holdings (FGH) – owned by Otto GmbH.
It operates through two main channels; mail order catalogues and online store.
History
Look Again was originally launched in the 1980s as a separate catalogue from Grattan.
Despite a successful history, the 1970s was a challenging period for Grattan PLC which led to the appointment of Dave Jones as CEO, a business man who had a strong mail order background. Mr Jones previously worked as Managing Director for the British Mail Order Company, a subsidiary of Great Universal Stores. One of his key observations upon joining the business was that Grattan was still overly reliant on the traditional agency-based catalogue model.[1] Grattan then set up three new catalogues, You & Yours, Streets of London and Look Again. These were catalogues that would contact the customer directly, bypassing the agent and cutting out agent commission.
In subsequent years the Look Again catalogue allowed Grattan to offer their products to a different customer base, essentially a re-skinned version of the main catalogue that would be sent to previously untargeted customer groups.
In 1991 Grattan were acquired by the German mail order group Otto Versand.[2] This takeover included the acquisition of all the different brands under the Grattan group name. Another major catalogue business Freemans was also acquired by the Otto Group in 1999.
In January 2013, the Lookagain.co.uk website was re-launched as an online store under the Freemans Grattan Holdings (FGH) group.
References
- ^ Ward, C. (2012) Grattan, Home Shopping for 100 Years, Bradford: Ashford Colour Press Ltd.
- ^ "100 jobs go at Grattan (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)". Thetelegraphandargus.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-17.