Country Walkers Covering More Ground

| Jim Tierney

If you’re feeling the need to take a hike, Country Walkers has added to its already hefty list of trips. In its 2008 catalog mailed Sept. 4, the marketer of walking vacations introduced 13 new itineraries spanning four continents.

MSC Reports Industrial-Strength Fourth Quarter

| MCM staff

Maintenance repair and operations (MRO) supplier MSC Industrial Direct turned in a stellar fourth quarter. For the three months ended Sept. 1, the Melville, NY-based merchant of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies recorded net sales of $450.5 million, a 16.7% increase over $385.9 million for the same period last year. Its net income soared nearly 39%, to $47.4 million from $34.1 million last year.

Neiman Marcus’ Retail Cusp Concept

| Jim Tierney

How does a high-end department store retailer go after younger, more fashion-forward customers? If you’re Neiman Marcus, you start opening Cusp stores–trendy, stylish boutiques designed to appeal to women age 21 to 45.

Determining Your Areas of Growth

| Michael I. Grant

All mailers must constantly looking to identify the best way to grow revenues. It seems like it should be pretty easy to do. But in the present multichannel environment, how do you fuel that growth or determine where to invest scarce resources to expand market share in a cost effective manner?

Live from DMA: Kenneth Cole’s Major Production

| Melissa Dowling

Chicago–Did you ever wonder why shoes manufacturer/marketer Kenneth Cole is called Kenneth Cole Productions? In his keynote address at the DMA annual conference, Kenneth Cole himself detailed how he started the company 25 years ago.

December: Not Too Late To Contact Buyer File

| Jim Coogan

When is it too late to contact your buyer and prospect files to maximize holiday sales? Thanks to the increased confidence consumers have in last-minute online shopping, you can go as close to Dec. 25 as you feel comfortable.

What Marketers Should Demand From an E-Mail List

| Turker Hassan

Working with many e-mail list brokers and mailers, we field many questions about the deliverability of a particular file. In this age of declining open and click-through rates, marketers are researching their test lists more thoroughly.