Right Start Loses $633,000 After Sale of Catalogue

The Right Start Inc., a Westlake Village mail order and retail firm specializing in baby products, reported losses for its fiscal third quarter and nine months ended Feb. 22, resulting largely from the sale of its Children’s Wear Digest catalogue last year.

The company’s third-quarter loss was $633,000, in contrast with a year-earlier profit of $155,000. Its revenue in the recent quarter slipped 6%, to $9.17 million from $9.76 million.

Right Start said that catalogue production delays due to a paper shortage also hurt its quarterly results by lowering response rates for its winter catalogue.

For the nine-month period, Right Start had a loss of $2.01 million, while its revenue fell 3% to $35.5 million. A year before, the company lost $186,000 on $36.7 million in revenue.

Separately, the holder of 63% of Right Start’s stock said it is evaluating a buyout offer from an investment group. American Recreation Centers Inc., a Rancho Cordova operator of bowling centers, said it had hired Allen & Co., an investment-banking firm, to advise it on the offer from Fulcrum Capital Partners to acquire all of American Recreation’s stock for about $37.6 million, as well as other options for maximizing shareholder value.

American Recreation spokesman Robert A. Crist denied speculation that the company was near to selling its Right Start stake. But he said that American Recreation would continue to consider the offers it receives from time to time by parties interested in acquiring its Right Start holdings.

Fulcrum Capital is led by investor Michael Lederman of Rhode Island.