Friday, Aug 3, 2012    Text size: 

LEEDS, England — Industry vet Mark Behar has been tapped to lead business development efforts in the U.S. for RH Smith, manufacturers of the Fever and Smiffy’s costume brands.

Behar has previously held regional and national accounts positions with Leg Avenue and Rubies respectively, which are among the biggest suppliers in the U.S. industry.

“Mark holds an exceptional record for sales team management, as well as key account and brand development; notably specializing in bringing new brands to market,” said Julian Smith, head of international development for RH Smith & Sons. “He will oversee the building of a significantly strengthened agent resource, providing full state coverage in the U.S., and will be drawing key sales professionals in to ‘Team USA,’ bringing with them category experience and an established customer base. He has created an initial core of eight agents who are already operational, and these will be joined by others over the next few months.”

According to the company, Behar’s priority focus will be to expand the company’s adult channel customer base in the U.S., specifically the Fever Collection of costumes, accessories and lingerie. He will also be instrumental in steering U.S. range development, pricing policy, promotional strategy and media plans, to support a further expansive launch of both Smiffy’s and Fever brands into the market place in 2013.

“Our U.S. Forward orders year-to-date are already ahead 116 percent, thanks largely to the hard work of the UK-based team and our expansion into adult key accounts over the last few months — we have set the foundations for a successful year,” Smith said. “However, Mark’s appointment signifies a serious step-change in our company’s U.S .sales objectives, in what is potentially the largest prospective international market for our Smiffy’s and Fever brands, and the work that we undertake over the next few months will be crucial in setting the foundations for big things in 2013.”