Cover Story: REI Treks Ahead

By conducting such tests, REI has eliminated seven catalog mailings — four main catalogs, three small ones — from its direct mail marketing program. But the program remains profitable.

“Direct is still very important to us, but we’re a smaller player in that area than we were just a few years ago,” says Bowcut. The key to its catalog plans has been the extent to which they give sales an incremental lift.