‘Be There or Be Square’; Why & How Lillian Vernon Reverted to Its Old Square Format

Lillian Vernon, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based cataloger and online retailer specializing in household, organizational, children’s and fashion accessory products, has gone back to its roots in search of future success. The company’s catalog has reverted to its more unique dimensions, 8 inches by 8 inches, after a four-year departure. The 56-year-old multichannel merchant first introduced the square format in 1986, but in recent years had been using the more common 8 inches by 10 inches format.

“It was such a well-known format for the core book that we wanted to return to it,” says Vice President of Marketing John Buleza. “It’s kind of in keeping with a lot of the other changes we’re making, from positioning to merchandise — similar to what it was back in the days when the company performed better.”

One goal Buleza hopes to achieve with the return to the square catalog is increased brand awareness. “It’s an important part of our brand,” he says. “There aren’t many people at a square format.” As an example, he cited a woman collecting a stack of catalogs turned upside down from her mailbox. With its square format, she would likely be able to identify the Lillian Vernon book without even looking at the cover, he believes.

To go along with the revamped catalog dimensions, Lillian Vernon has changed the merchandise and pricing within the catalog. Believing it had strayed from what its customers truly want — gifts, home decor, kids’ products, etc.— the catalog’s merchandise underwent an overhaul. “Our merchants felt we had shifted toward more of a fashion orientation,” Buleza says, “a lot of handbags, as an example. Our customers really aren’t looking for us to be providing that to them. It’s the gift, the home decor and the kids’ product where our strength is.”

One product example is the new “World’s Best Grandpa” throw blanket to complement its previously marketed “World’s Best Grandma” throw blanket, which it has offered for a number of years. Realizing the value its customers place on things such as family, tradition and holidays, the company has adjusted the catalog with such values in mind.

“In the recent past, certain very obvious things were overlooked in the pursuit of new business,” Executive Vice President of Merchandising Michelle Gershkovich said in a company statement. “We don’t want to overlook anything or anybody, and the solution to increasing business is nurturing our clientele. If our customers have always loved the novelty, whimsy and tradition of a ‘Grandma’s Throw,’ of course they’re going to like a ‘Grandpa’s Throw,’ and not the hip, dime-a-dozen handbags in funky colors we’d been trying to sell them!”

Lillian Vernon also has scaled back its pricing in the square catalog. Its newest catalog concept, the “sweet spot,” is an assortment of products priced at $14.98. “Our average price offered needs to be a certain price range,” Buleza says. “And for whatever reason, that range had increased over the prior several years to be what we now feel is a little too high.”

The new approach is paying dividends. “We’re finding the lower-priced items are selling well, they’re driving response,” Buleza says. Having stopped its promotion of global free shipping for all of its products in October 2006, he says the company now is focusing on the merchandise, its uniqueness and pricing to drive customer response.

While the core Lillian Vernon catalog has reverted back to square dimensions, the company’s intentionally keeping the kids catalog at the 8-by-10 format. Whereas by reverting the core book to the 8-by-8 format would give it its own identity, the cataloger felt that by keeping the kids book at the standard size would enable it to “kind of stand on its own as a separate offering of ours,” Buleza says.

Lillian Vernon seeks to separate itself from other catalog companies, not only in its catalog design, but also in its overall approach. “We don’t do what everyone else does, and we don’t want to look like everyone else out there, either,” Gershkovich says. The company plans to mail the core catalog on a monthly basis, and that’s its goal for the kids book in the near future.