As we discuss excess spending on A&P, we should remember that the stated reason for the spend was to increase brand popularity for the mass market. Neil even stated that sales to the department stores is essentially a break even proposition. That was a major problem with Guess who would not allow their product to be sold into the mass market.

Mag, your sales estimate moving forward was based on minimum sales of $30M for JS. If you believe the comment that the mass market is 3-4 times the size of the department store market and that sales of Fancy in the first full year were about $20M, Fancy should be able to generate somewhere between $60-$80M in that market by itself. This does not include continued sales in the department store market and sales of Fancy Love. I'm not saying that it will happen as it does appear those figures are outlandish. However, I am merely feeding back information from Parlux management on the size of that market. This is the reason why I keep emphasizing that we must find out more about Parlux coverage into this market.

As I pointed out earlier, Quality King is Parlux only distributor. They may not have enough resources i.e., sales personnel and distribution sites to maximize the potential for this market. The Nussdorfs may be more concerned about the performance of Perfumania. Individual buyers at given mass market stores may not like the sales rep from QK that calls on them. There are undoubtedly many more reasons. I am sure that there are other distributors out there who can sell and distribute.

I would ask that people on this message board who live in the southwest and west do a quick check of some of the major mass market chains to see if Parlux products are in their stores and post their findings.

In my mind, there is a real disconnect in this area and may be a major reason why sales are not higher and the company isn't much more profitable.