Truth, Justice, and the American tween

Apparel retail chain Justice, which caters to preteen girls, is launching a print catalog scheduled to mail in late July, just in time for the back-to-school season. A second mailing is slated for the holiday season.

But Justice — which like fellow tween apparel merchant Limited Too is owned by New Albany, OH-based Too — won’t be launching a transactional Website. In fact, the 54-page catalog is meant to drive girls ages 8-12 and their parents to one of Justice’s 100 stores. Nor is the catalog designed as a prospecting tool: Robert Atkinson, Too’s vice president of investor relations, says it will mail only to house file names.

“Tween girls do not have their own credit cards, so it doesn’t make sense to open an e-commerce site,” says Atkinson. “This will work more as an advertising vehicle. If the tweens like what they see in the catalog, they will tell a parent and have them bring them to a store.”

The Limited Too print catalog also serves primarily as a store traffic driver, but Limited Too does sell merchandise on its Website, even though it targets the same audience as Justice. Its product line, however, is somewhat higher priced than that of Justice.