FORMER STROUDS EXECUTIVES TAKE DIRECT SALES APPROACH
Wayne Selness and Jeff Stroud, former key executives at defunct specialty linen store Strouds, are launching a direct sales business that will sell high-quality bed and bath textiles and accessories through a network of independent sales consultants.

The new company, called Private Quarters, is slated to start in the fall, beginning its efforts in Southern and Northern California and Phoenix.

Selness, formerly chief executive officer of Strouds, is the chairman and CEO and will oversee merchandise and operations. Jeff Stroud, son of founder Bill Stroud and senior vice president of store operations of Strouds before it shut its doors, is Private Quarters' president and chief operating officer, overseeing sales and marketing.

Backing the new enterprise is BEV Capital, a Connecticut-based venture capital firm with more than $200 million under its management. Private Quarters is BEV's second investment in the direct sales industry after last year's deal with Big Enough Inc., a direct seller of children's clothing.

Private Quarters will specialize in selling upscale products bound for the bedroom and bathroom, such as bed linens, bath towels, rugs and bath accessories, as well as decorative accents like candles, picture frames, wall art and vases, among other items. The products will be labeled Private Quarters and are mostly imported.

"We have the kind of products that customers would be interested in," Selness said. Asked how their experience at Strouds would translate to this new venture, Selness said, "Our strength is in better-quality products that are valuable in this arena. But this is a different way of selling and customers respond in a different way in a party environment."

The other known direct seller of bedding and bath products is Linen World, a 20-yearold, family-owned company based in Orchard Park, N.Y. It offers blankets, bedding, heirloom-quality tablecloths, scarves, doilies, wall hangings and items for the kitchen, bedroom and bath.

The Private Quarters executives view The Pampered Chef as a model of a successful direct sales business. When Berkshire Hathaway, the holding firm of Warren Buffet, acquired the direct seller of professional-quality kitchen tools in 2002, annual sales were at $700 million. The Pampered Chef's Web site said it has a sales staff of 70,000 independent kitchen consultants worldwide and a customer base of 12 million.

"All told, the direct sales business is under $30 billion. Roughly $10 billion is in the home products, such as Tupperware, The Pampered Chef and Home Interiors. Most people are in the kitchen area," said Selness of the potential of the business.