50-year-plus Catalog Veteran Enjoys It Small and Simple

BIGGEST INITIAL CHALLENGE: Learning the most effective way to place products gave Boatman the most trouble early on. “I also had a hard time with pricing and trying to keep an eye on the competition while keeping an eye on the bottom line,” he says.

He struggled with getting quality illustrations and photos in his company’s earlier catalogs. “Back then,” he reflects, “it was black-and-white photos or zinc half-tones. Today, everything’s evolved with computers.”