In a move hinted at last spring in its announcement of a corporate reorganization, the founders of Amway have formed several new companies. All are privately held by members of the DeVos and Van Andel families. The move comes in the wake of plummeting sales for Amway, and the disappointing performance of its new, internet-based version, Quixtar.

The company has laid off about 1300 workers worldwide since May, 2000.

The new company, called "Alticor" includes four subsidiaries: Amway, Quixtar, Access Business Group, and Pyxis Innovations. Access Business Group will take advantage of Amway's expertise and automation in warehousing and delivering in business-to-business sales. This is no doubt intended to produce additional revenues to shore up its flagging sales and make use of facilities which are now underutilized. Pyxis will be the "corporate development" arm.

The company also announced sales of $5 billion at estimated retail, worldwide. However, it is unclear whether that announcement is Amway sales, or sales for all groups now gathered under the Alticor umbrella.