Don't know anything about ALOY or its management. However, ALOY is attempting to enter into iTurf's market. Perhaps this info about TURF may be helpful:
iTurf--in a nutshell
iTurf has the potential to be very profitable. First, some background
provided by a Bloomberg article (April 9th):
"Yesterday, iTurf sold 4.2 million shares, a 25 percent stake, at $22
each, raising $92.4 million.
iTurf, which sells clothes and provides chat rooms for 10-to-24 year
olds, a group it calls Generation Y, is one of the few money-making
Internet companies to sell shares. It earned $464,000 on revenue of $4
million in the year ended Jan. 31 after losing $40,000 on revenue of
$134,000 the previous year.
iTurf "seems to be one of the more well-planned Internet companies that have gone public recently," said Mark Basham, an analyst with Standard & Poor's equity group. "Instead of just being an e-commerce site, they've realized that they need to provide a more comprehensive solution."
iTurf, which says its target audience of 56 million people has $278
billion of disposable income, operates popular Web sites. It said 35
million of its pages were seen in February, up from 800,000 the same
month a year earlier. iTurf also provides chat rooms and personal home
pages for its customers.
iTurf will benefit by being the first in its segment of the online
retailing market, Basham said."
I think that it is very positive that iTurf is the first to target the
Generation Y market, has $92.5 million of working capital, and
starts-off with the mailing list of Delia's to generate an audience.
BTW, my daughter receives the catalog frequently. (Note: Yes--and
buys--of course, only being 12, for the time being I do control the
purchases.) Here's my thinking:
First, iTurf's business plan is focused on the young female Generation Y segment. iTurf's goal is to build iTurf into the most heavily-trafficked Generation Y destination online. The key elements of its strategy are to: (i) strengthen the recognition of the iTurf brand and each brand in its network of sites; (ii) enhance its online offerings to drive traffic to its sites and increase revenue; (iii) expand the infrastructure of its Web sites to enhance functionality for users and to support growth of our business; and (iv) develop iTurf.com as the online meeting place and community for Generation Y.
Second, working off of Delia's mailing list and commencing a hip
marketing campaign (with $92.5 million to work with) will generate a
wide audience.
Third, iTurf's web-page is a marketer's dream. In a few months you will see every major consumer company (e.g., Coca-Cola, McDonald's,
Volkswagen, AquaFresh, Sony, Disney) placing ads on the web-page. Why?
These companies will want to instill brand loyalty in this young
audience. And here they are all in one place.
Fourth, Delia's clothing is very popular with my daughter and her
friends. The quality is good, which pleases my wife.
Fifth, the recent set-back for the stock related to Delia's announcement regarding its SCREEM! young men's clothing division, which has nothing to do with iTurf.
In my opinion, unlike most internet stocks, iTurf (because of its market niche) will be very profitable. I fully acknowledge that it will take time. iTurf has acknowledged that as it spends advertising dollars to realize its business strategy, we (investors) should expect costs to exceed revenue for the foreseeable future. However, in my mind, these teenagers have no fear when it comes to the computer and the internet (unlike my wife and myself). Getting "connected" with Generation Y first and early in e-commerce and i-community bodes very well for profitability. The returns that we have seen in stocks like AOL and Yahoo may potentially be replicated with an investment in iTurf (at least, I hope).
Good investing! |
