Concepts Direct Catalogs Live On

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of Concepts Direct's five catalog titles have been greatly exaggerated. According to president Phillip Wiland, an article in the Boulder County (CO) "Daily Camera" stating that the $51.6 million mailer would shut its doors at the end of the year was incomplete.

Yes, the company will shut its doors in Longmont, CO, where the company has been headquartered. And "Concepts Direct" will no longer exist. But the Linda Anderson, Garfield Stuff, Music Stand, New Bargains, and Colorful Characters gift catalogs will be relocating to Missouri in January under the auspices of a newly formed parent company, Direct Retailing.

Concepts Direct sold its best-known title, stationery catalog Colorful Images, in September to Colorado Springs, CO-based competitor Current USA, a division of $1 billion conglomerate Taylor Corp. After the sale, says Wiland, "our board of directors formed a special committee to review status and determine the best course of action for the remaining business. Since Colorful Images accounted for over half of company sales, the current facility is too large, and operating costs too high. The special committee engaged an independent investment bank to value the remaining business and determined that, because of high costs, shareholders were best served by a rapid winding down of operations at the current location." Last year Concepts Direct had sales of $51.6 million.

Members of management offered to buy Concepts Direct’s remaining titles and other operating assets "at a price above the range of values established by the independent investment bank," Wiland says. The committee accepted the offer, and the catalogs will mail under the new ownership beginning in February.

Concepts Direct launched its newest catalog, Colorful Characters, around the same time it sold Colorful Images. The book sells licensed merchandise of such well-known characters as Snoopy, Superman, and Betty Boop.