Schein Sinks Teeth Into Dental Supplier Deal

| Jim Tierney

Henry Schein has gobbled up another company. The Melville, NY-based medical, dental, and veterinary supplies merchant on June 4 announced an agreement to buy the full-service and special markets businesses of New York-based Becker-Parkin Dental Supply Co.

Making Screen Pops Pop

| Kathryn Jackson

Screen pops are basically any technology, including interactive voice response (IVR), automatic number identification (ANI), or computer telephony integration (CTI), that presents corresponding data

Bottom-Feeding with Cooperative Database Models

| Jim Coogan

Catalogers must cut waste out of their circulation to fight the spiraling costs postage, paper and printing. A powerful tool for eliminating non-responsive names is to test the bottom of your house file reactivation models.

Taking It Out in the Trades

| MCM staff

Business-to-business merchants traditionally reached out to prospects by advertising in the trade magazines their prospects read. And while this old-school method still works, marketing experts suggest updating a trade ad campaign with online advertising, e-mail newsletters, and value-ad deals ranging from subscriber list rentals to trade-show sponsorships.

Righting Blair Corp.

| Jim Tierney

In its 97 years in business, Blair Corp. has been through a lot. The apparel and home goods merchant has gone from loose-sheet mailers to bound catalogs, from housecoats to careerwear, from targeting mature consumers to chasing baby boomers.

But after 14 consecutive quarters of sales declines, Blair needs to change its course.