In these shaky economic times, many catalogers are cutting back on the frequency of their mailings. Not so A.G. Russell. The Lowell, AR-based mailer, best known for its eponymous knives catalog, has increased the frequency of its Russell’s for Men title from two annual drops to six.
“I still think we’ll see some growth even if the economy doesn’t improve,” says president Goldie Russell. Indeed, the spring edition, which dropped in April, exceeded expectations by a third, she says.
The catalog, which sells leather goods, sunglasses, writing implements, watches, and other accoutrements for men, will have two 600,000-name mailings and four 150,000-name mailings next year. For the larger mailings, about 75% of the names will come from co-op databases and other lists. All told, Russell expects to mail 50%-70% more copies of the catalog in 2004 than in 2003.
Accompanying the increase in frequency will be an increased page count. Russell’s for Men went up eight pages, to 48, this past October. Russell says that the catalog will likely gain another 8-16 pages before the end of next year.