Building and Using a Business List (858 words)

by Jack Schmid

In the folklore of catalog history, there is a story that may be apocryphal, but fascinating just the same. It's a story of Harry and David, today's leader in the food-by-mail field. In the height of the great depression, Harry and David's fruit business faced impending doom. In a last ditch attempt to save the company, the owners presented their fruit baskets to businesses as a gift idea. The idea worked and the story goes that it not only saved the company from ruin, but helped focus Harry and David on a new course—mail order and cataloging to businesses and consumers.