Austad’s new owner takes a swing at improving the golf catalog’s performance through new creative, list and merchandising strategies

By Alicia Orr , Editor In Chief and Catalog Success

Independent of Albright, Arett had worked in the direct marketing field since 1973, including a long career at Sears catalog, which lasted until 1993. “In 1998, I was looking for an underperforming catalog to buy,” he recalls. In the summer of 1999, Arett identified a possible candidate in the Austad’s catalog, which was owned by Hanover Direct. “I negotiated for the rights to buy Austad’s. About the same time, Bill bought my company, then [called] Euclid Logistics, and I came to Maryland as president of Mammoth.” Then, with the help of J. Schmid & Associates, a catalog consulting firm in Shawnee Mission, KS, headed by Jack Schmid, Arett began examining the numbers.