Meeting Today’s Challenges

At the same time, he says, “More catalogs are competing for a retail dollar that is not growing.” This is somewhat less true for Bloomingdale’s due to its high-end customer base, but it’s still an issue, says Silver, adding that when postage goes up, it goes up for all catalogers. So one of today’s big challenges is prospecting at a reasonable cost. For catalogers, he says, “It’s a very intense time due to the economic pressures.” With so many catalogers facing many of the same business challenges, he urges others to get involved, particularly when it comes to postal issues. Silver is on the Catalog Council Operating Committee, and was chair of the committee from 1998 to 2001.