MOL Starts Consolidation Service for U.S. women’s apparel retailer Christopher & Banks

September 03, 2009

TOKYO - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Akimitsu Ashida) today announced that Christopher & Banks, a women's specialty retailer in the U.S., has selected Hong Kong-based MOL Consolidation Service Limited (MCS) as its buyer's consolidator in Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Christopher & Banks headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, has more than 800 stores, in 46 states, under the brand names "Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks". It selected MCS because of a service network that covers all of Asia, the company's track record in this field, and the comprehensive STARLINK^* cargo information service.

Michael Tripp, Vice President, Supply Chain and Logistics at Christopher & Banks said to MOL Consolidation Service, "As we continue to evaluate and optimize our supply chain, MCS was the natural choice for our overseas consolidation services and we are excited about entering this new partnership. Their ability to work with our overseas vendors and assist us in implementing and enforcing critical programs/policies, like Importer Security Filing, to keep our merchandise flowing smoothly, is critical to us both now and in the future."

Creating more efficient transport service

MOL has provided buyer's consolidation service since its start in 2003, with the group company MOL Consolidation Service playing a core role. In 2008, the acronym "MCS", taken from capital letters of the company name, was selected as MOL's brand name for the consolidation service.

MCS offers a buyers' consolidation service which transports all the products purchased by European and U.S. retailers and apparel companies from several suppliers in China and Southeast Asia, from ports in Asia.
STARLINK cargo information service and other value-added services such as product inspection and bar code reading are available throughout those regions.

MOL continues to win business from customers, setting the stage for steady growth with its extensive network, state-of-the-art IT capabilities, and carefully developed, customer-focused services.

* "STARLINK" is an independent transport inventory control system developed by MOL and MOL Consolidation Service Ltd, which can search cargo at stock keeping unit (SKU) levels throughout the logistics process, from ordering of goods to the delivery of products at the final destination. Customers can easily access the wide range of customized cargo information in real time via Internet.