New owner intends to grow San Francisco Music Box catalog

Joel Kier, chairman of the new parent company of San Francisco Music Box Co., expects to begin growing the gifts marketer’s catalog business. Kier’s New York-based company, Kier Group Holdings, bought Music Box on Nov. 13 from athletic shoe cataloger/retailer Foot Locker. The sale was part of Foot Locker’s planned divestiture of its nonathletic business.

Catalog sales currently make up 15% of Music Box’s sales; the Walnut Creek, CA-based Music Box also has 162 stores nationwide. “Direct marketing may grow faster than retail,” Kier says. “Our investment is about growing the business.”

Kier Group has invested in several giftware and home furnishings companies, but Music Box is its first mail order business. The firm is looking to acquire additional marketers to build a multichannel, multiproperty stable. “We see a real opportunity to use catalogs in a way that they enhance store and online traffic,” Kier says.