A slow finish in 2007

| Jim Tierney

The fourth quarter wasn’t great for retail sales, and it wasn’t robust for industry mergers and acquisitions either. The volume of deals in the fourth

ATD-American acquires Adirondack Direct

| Tim Parry

ATD-American, a direct merchant of business and institutional furniture and equipment, announced Jan. 31 that it has acquired a similar business-to-business

Cash Crunch for Blue Sky Brands

| Jim Tierney

Blue Sky Brands, the parent company of catalogers Paragon Gifts, Bits and Pieces, Bits and Pieces U.K., National Wildlife Direct, and Wintherthur, is facing such severe cash-flow problems that it hasn

Data Mining: A Strategic Plan

| Rick Brough

There is great advice out there about the how-to of data mining. But there is precious little about the why-do. Just what can mailers do to improve their strategic grasp?

Newgistics Acquires Cornerstone Shipping Services

| MCM staff

Returns-management system provider Newgistics on Feb. 11 acquired Milan, IL-based small-package shipping software supplier Cornerstone Shipping Services. The combined company will be known as Newgistics.

ATD-American Acquires Adirondack Direct

| Tim Parry

ATD-American, a direct merchant of business and institutional furniture and equipment, announced Jan. 31 that it has acquired a similar business-to-business cataloger, Adirondack Direct, for an undisclosed sum.

Now or Never

| Tim Parry

It’s time to fess up to your dirty little secret that you don’t calculate lifetime value. Embarrassing, isn’t it? But you’re not alone. Some merchants

Systemax acquires CompUSA

| MCM staff

Computers manufacturer/marketer Systemax has entered into an agreement to purchase the CompUSA brand, trademarks, and e-commerce business. The direct