Catalog of the Year Awards

By 1980, Autom had enough “other things” — apparel items such as choir gowns, stoles and chasubles, and novelties such as Christmas ornaments — to produce a black-and-white catalog. In the same year, DiGiovanni’s brother Tom entered the business and became heavily involved in Autom’s development. (Tom DiGiovanni now runs the company’s resale catalog, its fastest-growing title.) After business from that first catalog leveled off, the DiGiovannis hired an industry consultant for extra help, and in 1984 the company mailed its first full-color catalog.