Tucson, AZ-based multititle mailer Crosstown Traders has resurrected its Home, Etc. catalog. After a nearly two-year hiatus, the home products book hit the mail again in January.
“We’ve sent out about 2 million books so far, so it’s still a test,” says Gayle Coolick, a spokesperson for Crosstown’s parent company, Bensalem, PA-based apparel retailer Charming Shoppes. “It hasn’t yet climbed to the circ levels of our other titles, but we’re delighted to have it back in the mix.”
Charming Shoppes acquired Crosstown in May. Coolick says that Crosstown’s previous owner, JP Morgan Partners, had asked Crosstown to suspend Home, Etc. to focus on apparel. With the exception of food gifts book Figi’s, Crosstown’s other catalogs—which include Brownstone Studio, California Style, Coward Shoe, and Old Pueblo Traders–sell women’s apparel and footwear. “We were in the process of acquiring Crosstown just as the Home, Etc. catalog was about to be reinstated,” Coolick says. “When we purchased Crosstown last May, we decided to go forward with plans for the new book.”
Coolick describes the current incarnation of Home, Etc. as “very similar” to the previous versions, although the new edition offers far more bedding than the brand used to. Home, Etc. also sells kitchen appliances, bathroom furnishings, and home electronics.
“It’s generally an update of the old book, with everything in it truly current,” says Coolick. “Everything that was in the book two years ago has been upgraded.”