School Specialty Sold for $1.5 Billion

| MCM staff

Boston-based Bain Capital Partners agreed to buy multititle educational supplier School Specialty for $49 a share, or roughly $1.5 billion in cash. As of Tuesday night, when the deal was announced, School Specialty’s stock was at $39.22 a share.

Winners of the 2005 Annual Catalog Awards

| MCM staff

The winners of the 20th Annual Catalog Awards and the Sixth Annual I.Merchant Awards, sponsored by MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT, were announced at a gala luncheon on May 25 at the Annual Catalog Conference….

Volume steady, offers rising

| Sherry Chiger

After zigging upward in January and zagging downward in February, year-over-year catalog volume held all but steady in March, according to Catalog Tracker.

CORRECTION

| MCM staff

In the May 1 issue, we had an error on our Market Snapshot chart of outdoor gear mailers with the largest active buyer files. We inadvertently picked

Window shopping

| Rama Ramaswami

Delays are frustrating, and none more so than those of the shopper who dithers for weeks before buying or walking away empty-handed. This just looking

backword

| MCM staff

Merchants mad for Martha’s poncho When lifestyle guru Martha Stewart was released from a West Virginia federal prison in early March after serving five