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turns 30

At the ripe old age of 30, Movies Unlimited considers itself the oldest specialty video retailer in the U.S. And the Philadelphia-based company has seen a lot since it opened its first store in 1978 — from Betamax to VHS to DVD. Movies Unlimited grew to five stores by the mid-'90s but had closed all of its stores by 2004 to market exclusively through catalogs and the Web. To celebrate its three decades in business, the mailer has published a massive 800-page anniversary DVD catalog. The special edition, which sells for $99.95 — plus $5 for shipping and handling — offers rare artwork, sections highlighting star performers and directors, and featured selections on the biggest video hits for the past 30 years. Happy anniversary, Movies Unlimited; in today's tough climate, 30 is the new 50!

Blogbits

Pondemonium

We stumbled across the Pondemonium blog on the Inc.com Website. In a recent entry, blogger Greg Wittstock, founder/CEO of water-gardening products marketer Aquascape, talks about a vacation he took with cataloger Backroads. The trip consisted of hiking, biking, and rafting in Costa Rica; the group of 20 included a vice president of apparel merchant Coldwater Creek and a founder of the retailer The Finish Line.

Wittstock blogs that he was curious about the business opinions of his trip mates and that he discussed Aquascape's distribution strategy with them. Some of the readers who posted comments on the article did not think this was a shrewd move. One of the comments points out that, given the faltering stock prices of both The Finish Line and Coldwater Creek, Wittstock “may want to find better people and business models to get advice from…” The commenter pointed out that the “the people you met should have been working on improving their company instead of looking at animals in Cost Rica.” Now that's a bit harsh.

Blogger is stark craving mad about Anthropologie

E-commerce experts these days are always advising merchants to start a blog. Anthropologie doesn't have to — one of its more ardent fans started her own blog devoted to the wares sold by the apparel, gifts, and home goods cataloger/retailer. Launched in October 2005 by Lincoln Park, NJ-based artist Jennifer Fuchs, Craving Anthropologie covers various items that Fuchs covets from in the high-end merchant's store, from outfits and accessories to gifts and home decor items. The Craving Anthropologie site brings in more than 1,200 visitors a week who check in to check out what Fuchs is obsessed with at the moment. We're not sure how much Fuchs' Internet obsession with Anthropologie helps the merchant in sales. But we assume it can't hurt.

LET'S HEAR FROM YOU!

Let us know how we're doing. Send us any comments on recent articles or issues, or perhaps a multichannel shopping tale you'd like to share.

HOW TO CONTACT US:

E-mail: melissa.dowling@penton.com

Phone: 203-358-9900 Fax: 203-358-5823

Letter: 11 River Bend Drive South, Stamford, CT 06907

Web: www.MultichannelMerchant.com