Amazon Helps British Merchant Unveil Its Brand in the U.S.

Orders currently placed with Figleaves through Amazon's site are fed into Figleaves' order processing system and fulfilled from its U.K. distribution center. The company plans to add a U.S. distribution

center within the next six months.

Until its affiliation with Amazon, Figleaves cautiously had been testing the U.S. market via its U.S. e-commerce-enabled Web site (figleaves.com) launched in December 2002. "We've always had global ambitions. The United States has a population several times the size of the U.K. population, and two or three times the shopping propensity," says Michael Ross, Figleaves' CEO. That the company already was receiving orders from U.S. customers via its U.K. Web site was an added incentive.