Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from [Gary Giblin].
[Gary Giblin]
I’m just wondering, can you quantify or roughly quantify the Bed Head channel sales that represented extra sales last year so that we can calculate what the normalize sales percentage was for personal care?
Gerald J. Rubin
I don’t have the number available but, as you know, when you do fill pipeline you do get larger orders when you ship in the merchandise. But, that’s true of any introduction we do and we have other introductions that we’re doing now also so that was a good quarter of shipping the Bed Head because it was pipeline fill.
[Gary Giblin]
Within personal care you mentioned private label, now on the last call you mentioned there was beginning to be some private label activity but perhaps it was happening because of retailers or salons’ bad experience with private label. So, has the private label presence increased in the last three months?
Gerald J. Rubin
One of our major customers that did go private label and has now reversed some of that and we’ll be shipping that product in the third quarter. Also, one of major retailers that did go private label is also in the process to changing to our branded merchandise because it didn’t sell as well as they thought last year so that will be coming in the first quarter of next year. There are very positive trends where retailers are getting away from private label and going to branded merchandise.
[Gary Giblin]
Are we talking primarily appliances here?
Gerald J. Rubin
Primarily appliances, yes.
[Gary Giblin]
Just a couple more, you mentioned or Tom mentioned lower advertising expense as a SG&A factor. Was that a purposeful reduction or was that just the comparison working out that way in terms of this quarter versus same quarter a year ago?
Gerald J. Rubin
Well, it just happened in one of our divisions, where we sponsored a car last year and we decided this year that we didn’t get our bank for the bucks so we discontinued the sponsorship of the car. But, all the other advertising is still going on as normal. As a matter of fact, we just have finished a big national advertising program for our Vidal Sassoon answers and it was run nationwide in thousands of spots that we put out.
It’s not that we’re cutting down on advertising it is just that if some advertising doesn’t work, we cut it out which is good business and looking for other ways to spend the money.
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