Bleach Pty. of Australia is taking back in-house the distribution of its Insight brand of surf and skate clothing in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the U.K. At the beginning of 2009, the Australian company transferred ownership of the operation to Sport Finance, the successful French licensee of Kappa, which set up a dedicated subsidiary near Biarritz, France, to develop the brand, called Bleach Europe Distribution, through a seven-year licensing deal. The plan at the time was to double sales in the region, but they will only be just over €4 million this year, roughly the same as three years ago, and they have failed to generate sufficient profits. Bleach will take over the existing staff, run by Stéphane Vinolo, but the logistics will be transferred to a new distribution center in Rotterdam. Bleach is expected to continue to maintain its agreements with existing distributors in Europe for Insight and its two other brands, Ksubi and Something Else.

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