CATALOG AGE has learned that tightly held holding company Knight’s Direct has put one of its women’s apparel catalogs, Papillon, on hold. The St. Louis-based company had folded two of its other catalogs, women’s apparel book Knight’s Ltd. and footwear title Shoe Studio, last year. It continues to mail home furnishings catalog Home Decorators Collection, apparel and home products title Soft Surroundings, and women’s clothing book City Spirit.
“The prospects for mailing Shoe Studio and Knight’s Ltd. weren’t good,” explains Tom Wilcher, president of the $180 million mailer. “The universe of available names simply wasn’t large enough to make sense to continue.” As for Papillon, he says plans to remail the book are on hold, and he doesn’t rule out the possibility of selling the title outright. “We had some inquiries,” he says. The last Papillon catalog mailed in late April.
Besides folding the catalogs, Knight’s also changed its name slightly, from Knight’s Ltd., because “when people here answered the telephone, the name sounded limiting,” Wilcher says.