CATALOG AGE has learned that East Texas, PA-based business-to-business cataloger Day-Timers mailed 100,000 copies of its first consumer catalog, Dorney’s from Day-Timers, on April 25 for a May 2 in-home date.
Dorney’s, named after company cofounder Bob Dorney, is an extension of the company’s core line of planners and time-management products. Offerings in the 32-page catalog include tote bags and high-end business cases, says Tom Tweedie, director, catalog and Web marketing. Tweedie is hoping for an average order of $75-$100, whereas the average order for the core Day Timers catalog is $50.
The launch of the consumer catalog reflects the continuing addition of home addresses in Day-Timers’ house file. In fact, home addresses now account for 40% of the file. “The blurring of the work and the home life has really made this happen,” Tweedie says. “Companies are not paying for planners anymore. Instead, the consumer is paying for them. So the buying patterns are not necessarily changing.”
The Dorney’s catalog marks a return to prospecting for Day-Timers. The company has not actively prospected since 2001. Besides house file names, the spin-off is mailing to names rented from women’s apparel cataloger Boston Proper and high-tech gifts cataloger/retailer Sharper Image.
“We are still looking for other avenues to increase our business,” Tweedie says. “We’re cautiously optimistic in starting to prospect again now that we’ve weathered the uncertainty of the last four years.”