Catalogers of the Year

The Williams-Sonoma catalog turned out to be a major growth vehicle for the retail company, but that fact was not a proven business model back in the late 1970s, says Connolly. He recalls very few companies successfully selling high-end merchandise via direct mail. “Companies such as the Horchow Collection and Neiman-Marcus went on to prove that luxury items could sell via direct mail,” he notes. “They served as a proof of concept for the rest of the catalog industry.”