How catalogers merchandise a once-in-a-lifetime product

Maxwell Sroge, president of Maxwell Sroge Co. Inc., a catalog consultancy in Evanston, IL, says, “Everybody’s nervous about an item like this. If it were a handkerchief or a regular piece of glass, you could keep selling it [after Jan. 1].”

Thus, he says, both the glass maker and the cataloger are cautious about inventory. “Most people would rather run out of stock than be stuck with inventory, so they buy close to the bone,” Sroge points out. “If you know everyone’s got to have it, you want to be in there at a price that looks good in comparison. You know it’s short-lived, you can’t run it after the end of December. So it’s a case of get while the getting’s good.”