The Price of Free S&H
In their battle for customers, online superstores Buy.com and Amazon.com have been using shipping and handling as a weapon. Amazon.com began offering...
The Judges Were...
Geoff Batrouney executive vice president, Estee Marketing Group Sandra Cooper vice president of creative and account services, Marke Communications Tony...
The Eyeballs Have It
Little did I expect when I went to see Minority Report that I'd spend less time trying to figure out whodunit than thinking about direct marketing. The...
The Third Annual I.Merchant Awards
Given the aftermath of the dot-com crash, not to mention the punishing economic climate, some Web marketers might feel they deserve an award just for...
The Dish on Databases
When the topic is database marketing, plenty of other subjects enter into the discussion. At least that was the case in April, when Catalog Age sat down...
The Popcorn Factory Sold to 1-800-Flowers.com
Gifts marketer 1-800-Flowers.com first set its sights on The Popcorn Factory in 1999. Three years later, it finally acquired the $30 million food gifts...
The Company Store Snuggles Up to Advertising
Many catalogers are challenged to boost revenue in tough economic times. Bedding and home decor mailer The Company Store, part of Weehawken, NJ-based...
The Search Is On…
Van Dyke's Restorers is pretty happy with the results of its site redesign. With a 450% increase in traffic within three months and a 500% leap in revenue,...
The New Middle Ages
Three middle-aged women with dry skin, expanding waistlines, and the desire for comfortable, attractive exercise wear figured out six years ago what many...
The Company Store "Snuggles" up to ad
Catalogers advertising in magazines isn’t uncommon. But consumer goods advertising in catalogs—that’s a different story. Nonetheless, the May edition...
The Sweet Smell of Sales
Ah, the scents of spring freshly mown grass, budding flowers, the economy picking up. What was that last one again? I can just smell the economy turning...
The Essential Vermont Country Store
Like many an aging celebrity, Weston, VT-based Vermont Country Store is pursuing youth. The venerable family-owned business, which began in 1946, in March...
The Latest Catalog to Close: Mark, Fore & Strike
On Feb. 28, citing disappointing sales, The Mark Group announced it was folding its Mark, Fore & Strike catalog to concentrate on its thriving Boston...
The Secret Shopper: Whose Privacy Is It, Anyway?
The Direct Marketing Association's Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice, released last month, require members to post their privacy policies in a...
The DMA Cuts Staff Again
The Direct Marketing Association recently eliminated nine positions from its New York and Washington, DC offices, the fourth staff reduction in under...
The Secret Shopper: Kickin' Back in Cashmere
With cocooning now something of a national pastime, The Secret Shopper decided it was time to lounge in style in cashmere. Below, the price and the shipping-and-handling...
The Cybercritic
Every year, The Cybercritic vows not to set foot in a store from the day before Thanksgiving through the day after Christmas. I've never been able to...
The Rise and Fall of Japan
Japan was a spectacular success for many U.S. marketers in the mid-1990s. But now several catalogers that had prospected heavily there, such as Hanna...
The Secret Shopper: Holiday Stockings Emptying Out
A few shopping days before Christmas, CATALOG AGE's Secret Shopper called 20 catalogs to order 60 items. Thirty-five of the desired items, or 58%, were...
The Secret Shopper finds warehouse shelves only half full
In the last days before Christmas, CATALOG AGE’s Secret Shopper called 20 catalogers to order 60 items. Thirty-five of the desired items, or 58%, were...
The Production Page: Pinching Your Production Pennies
Printing and postage account for a mean 47.4% of catalogers' marketing expenses, according to Catalog Age's Benchmark Report on Critical Issues and Trends...
The Company Store Expands Cautiously
Home textiles cataloger The Company Store is expanding into the home furnishings market slowly. The mailer, part of Weehawken, NJ-based Hanover Direct's...
The Skinny on Atkins Direct's Growing Business
Fad diets come and go, but the Atkins diet, a low-carbohydrate program founded in 1989 by Dr. Robert Atkins, is still going strong. And Atkins Direct,...
The Wisdom of "Hogan's Heroes"
In wartime, you have to be flexible. I never imagined I'd be quoting Sgt. Schultz of TV's Hogan's Heroes in an Editor's Page. Then again, I never imagined...
The Electronic Catalog: Catalogers Make Their E-Resolutions for 2002
It's too soon to raise a glass and toast the new year, but it's not too early to plan your new year's resolutions. CATALOG AGE asked several marketers...
