Hunter Douglas, the giant in the world of affordable window treatments has told it’s online retailers to cease internet sales as of all of their products in North America as of June 1st. This is an interesting move, as a quick google search for window shades will return results for plenty of online retailers specializing in their products. We can only speculate on the amount of sales they generate from selling online, but cutting this stream off has to be huge.
It’s not as if they’ll be in trouble from the lack of sales in this sector. Every year you hear of more and more companies being taken over by Hunter Douglas, as they seek to expand their market even further. This could possibly be an effort to reorganize, regroup, and strategize with so many more avenues for sales than they had when they first sold online. In our opinion, the result will be to bring the brand a higher level of esteem as sales will be made through exclusive brick and mortar retailers and possibly specialty contractors like ourselves.
What’s also interesting is that this Netherlands based firm seems to be going against the grain. More window covering manufacturers seem to be ramping up or joining in the internet market where it was a gray area before. For instance, Lutron Shading announced last year a new internet sales program for approved sales partners.
