The Return of the Printed Catalog

J.C. Penney, for example, had produced its catalogs since 1963, and became one of the largest catalog retailers after Sears stopped producing its catalogs. For the last five years, J.C. Penney has been absent from the catalog business and lost many customers. The company's chief executive, Myron "Mike" Ullman, mistakenly thought that catalog customers would migrate online. Like other businesses, J.C. Penney learned the hard way that catalog customers use the internet to place their orders, which is distinctively different from pure online shoppers. J.C. Penney's sales dropped a third between 2011 and 2014.