Five years after opening its catalog headquarters and fulfillment center in Chantilly, VA, the Smithsonian is closing the facility. The organization will lay off 70 fulfillment employees; it will relocate 15 staffers who work in marketing, accounting, and purchasing.
“It’s a budget decision,” says Smithsonian spokesperson Linda St. Thomas, noting that farming out catalog functions will save the nonprofit organization $1.5 million in its first year alone.
A lack of space had led Smithsonian Mail Order, which did $30.6 million in sales for its fiscal year ended September 2001, to move its gift catalog’s operation from Springfield, VA, to Chantilly in April 1997. At the time, the catalog was shipping about 440,000 orders a year, and the Smithsonian was projecting nearly 70% growth. But that growth never came.
Smithsonian expects to phase out the Chantilly facility by mid-June, although it has yet to find a new space for its 15 catalog staffers, says spokesperson Mary Combs. The organization has yet to find a third-party fulfillment firm either. “We’ve sent out requests for proposals and are talking to people,” Combs says. “We have made no decision yet, but would like to get it settled soon.”
Combs adds that the catalog, which launched in 1977, will continue to mail four seasonal editions a year. “We’ll continue to look for merchandise that ties in with the [Smithsonian museum] collections,” Combs says. “The catalog isn’t static, even though we retain a few items like a teddy bear and a Hope diamond. Otherwise, the merchandise changes seasonally, with new furniture, jewelry, clothing, and holiday decorations.”