Chinaberry’s winning combination: soft on the outside, savvy on the inside

By Reported Donna Loyle

“We’ve been told by others in the catalog industry that lengthy copy is bad, bad with a capital B,” says Ed Ruethling, marketing director. “But we’ve been successful with it. Go figure.” He says they may test shorter copy in the future to see how it pulls.

Sprinkled throughout the Chinaberry catalog are customers’ testimonials, in addition to articles and tips to help parents engage their children in the reading experience. For example, the 120-page Spring 2001 edition featured a compilation of ideas for reading to very young children.