-Nature & Decouvertes keen to acquire online retailers.

CORPORATE IT UPDATE-(C)1995-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

8 April 2011 - French gift shops chain Nature & Decouvertes plans to acquire online retailers in an attempt to boost its sales on the Internet, the company's president Antoine Lemarchand told French business daily La Tribune.

According to the Lemarchand's estimates, online sales will account for nearly 20% of the group's overall revenue within eight years. The company recorded a 35% rise in e-commerce in 2010, which helped it withstand the crisis. Sales remained stable despite four openings last year.

Nature & Decouvertes was set up in 1990. Today, the company with a turnover of EUR195m (USD280m) is inaugurating its 80th outlet in France, located in Montparnasse, Paris. This is the group's seventh point of sale in Paris and the biggest one in the Ile-de-France region with a surface of 450 sq m (4,844 sq ft).

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