HSN Improvements Buys Alsto Catalog

St. Petersburg, FL-based HSN Improvements, the catalog subsidiary of cable-TV shopping giant HSN, is acquiring the Alsto catalog and Web business from cataloger/retailer Dick Blick Holdings. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.

The sale now enables Highland Park, IL-based Dick Blick to focus on its core product line, art supplies. Like HSN’s Improvements and Home Focus catalog, Alsto sells home and garden improvement products. Dick Blick sells art supplies to professional and hobbyist artists and to schools and institutions via its catalog and its 24 Dick Blick stores and 10 The Art Store shops. The company acquired The Art Store out of bankruptcy this past summer.