As it continues to expand its nonfood offerings, Monroe, WI-based Swiss Colony has launched a home furnishings catalog and has an apparel book waiting in the wings.
The multititle mailer introduced Room for Color in February, the same month it launched Swiss Colony Occasions, its home-party division (see “Swiss Colony Crashes Home Party Business”). The 100-page catalog sells more-contemporary, youthful furnishings than the company’s other home decor book, Through the Country Door.
Likewise, the soon-to-launch apparel book, Durdy Looks, is targeting young adults, rather than the middle-age women who purchase from Swiss colony’s Monroe & Main and Midnight Velvet clothing catalogs. Swiss Colony expects to mail about 200,000 copies of the 60-page Durdy Looks in September, says president John Bauman.
Swiss Colony’s nonfood books, which include general merchandise titles Ginny’s and Seventh Avenue, now account for nearly 80% of the company’s more than $500 million in annual sales. The two food catalogs, Swiss Colony and The Tender Filet, make up the remainder.