Business description of LIFETIME-BRANDS-INC from last 10-k form

OVERVIEW

The Company designs, sources and sells branded kitchenware, tabletop and other products used in the home. The Company either owns or licenses its brands. The Company’s licenses generally only permit the Company to sell certain products using the licensed brand name. The Company sells its products to retailers and distributors and sells a limited selection of its products directly to consumers through its Internet websites. The Company markets its products under well-respected and widely-recognized brand names in the housewares industry. According to the Home Furnishing News Brand Survey issued in 2009, three of the Company’s brands, KitchenAid^®, Cuisinart^® and Farberware^®, are among the four most recognized brands in the “Kitchen Tool, Cutlery and Gadgets” category. In addition, the Company also sells products under private-label brand names controlled by certain of its retailer customers. The Company primarily targets moderate to premium price points through every major level of trade and generally markets several lines within each of its product categories under more than one brand. At the heart of the Company is a culture of innovation. The Company brought over 4,200 new or redesigned products to market in 2011 and expects to introduce approximately 4,200 new or redesigned products in the U.S. and an additional 3,750 in the United Kingdom and other countries in 2012.

The Company’s product categories include two categories of products that people use to prepare, serve and consume foods, Kitchenware (kitchen tools and gadgets, cutlery, cutting boards, bakeware and cookware) and Tabletop (dinnerware, flatware and glassware); and one category, Home Solutions, which comprises other products used in the home (food storage, pantryware, spices and home décor).

The Company sources almost all of its products from suppliers located outside the United States, primarily in the People’s Republic of China. The Company manufactures its sterling silver products at a leased facility in San Germán, Puerto Rico and fills spices and assembles spice racks at its owned Winchendon, Massachusetts distribution facility.

The Company has expanded its presence in international markets through investments in various companies that operate outside of the United States. In 2007, the Company acquired a 30% equity interest in Grupo Vasconia, S.A.B. (“Vasconia”), a housewares company based in Mexico. In January 2008, the Company entered into a strategic alliance to distribute products in Canada. In January 2011, the Company, together with Vasconia and unaffiliated partners, formed Housewares Corporation of Asia Limited, a Hong Kong-based company that supplies direct import kitchenware products to retailers in North, Central and South America. In November 2011, the Company acquired 100% of the share capital of each of Creative Tops Holdings Limited and Creative Tops Far East Limited (collectively, “Creative Tops”). Creative Tops is a UK-based supplier of private label and branded tabletop and kitchenware products. In December 2011, the Company acquired a 40% equity interest in GS Internacional S/A (“GSI”). GSI is a wholesale distributor of branded housewares products in Brazil. GSI markets dinnerware, glassware, home décor, kitchenware and barware to customers, including major department stores, housewares retailers and independent shops throughout Brazil. In February 2012, the Company entered into a joint venture to distribute Mikasa^® products in China.

In addition, the Company licenses certain of its brands to other companies in various foreign markets, including Vasconia in Mexico and through a strategic alliance in Canada. The Company will continue to seek opportunities to license certain brands in other foreign markets.

The Company continues to evaluate opportunities to expand the recognition of its brands and to invest in other companies that operate principally outside the United States. These opportunities involve risks as the industry and foreign markets may not evolve as anticipated and the Company’s objectives may not be achieved.

3