Management

Rescue Team
February 1, 2009

Fresh off the sale of their last turnaround project — the reinvigorated J&L Industrial Supply to MSC Industrial Direct in June 2006 — Chuck Moyer and Mike Wessner set their sights on a new opportunity. After an exhaustive search process, these two B-to-B cataloging lifers targeted 63-year-old Conney Safety Products. In a deal financed by the private equity firm CI Capital, Moyer and Wessner acquired the company from its parent firm, K+K America, in October 2007.

Fun in the Sun
February 1, 2009

This month, Margaret Moraskie, vice president of e-commerce for women’s apparel cataloger Boston Proper, discusses her life in the catalog, retail and online trades.

After Eddie
January 1, 2009

Professionally, Lynda Swann will never be another Eddie Smith. Then again, she won’t have to be. The support system her father fostered and nurtured during his 50-plus years running the women’s hosiery and apparel catalog National Wholesale Co. runs so seamlessly that Swann handles her role as president with relative ease.

It’s as if Eddie’s Still There
January 1, 2009

Like many entrepreneurs who launched catalog businesses in bygone eras, the late Eddie Smith, whom I had the pleasure of knowing during the ’90s and early 2000s, stuck firmly to a number of ironclad principles during his 50-plus years at the helm of the National Wholesale catalog.

Power Outage?
January 1, 2009

This month, Brendan Edgerton, vice president of direct marketing for consumer electronics cataloger Crutchfield, discusses his life in the catalog business.

B-to-B Catalog Vet Don Buck Dies Suddenly
December 16, 2008

Don Buck, a B-to-B catalog executive at C&H Distributors, died on Dec. 12 from an apparent heart attack after finishing a game of racquetball. He was 56.

Valuations & Acquisitions: Dealing With an October Surprise
December 1, 2008

An “October surprise” in political terms means unveiling an unflattering allegation against your rival just before the November election. Although that didn’t happen this year, catalogers, along with the rest of the world, experienced quite an October surprise with the world financial crisis. So a mergers and acquisitions market that was extremely volatile to begin with is shaken to the core. It’s almost impossible for all but the most well-capitalized of marketers to get deals done. The sobering reality is that many will be forced to sell at bargain basement prices or, worse, close their doors. Amid this bleak backdrop, Lee Helman, a partner

Downsizing Is for Sissies: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is!
November 11, 2008

For those readers who believe that I’m way off base in my assertion that downsizing is for weak management, let me say this: Nine out of 10 companies that lay off employees do so for the absolute wrong reasons. From what I’ve seen, most companies downsize before all other cost-reduction measures have been exhausted.
Two weeks ago, I discussed the two largest areas of revenue bleeding for most companies: call centers and Web sites. (To read that article, click here.) I’m willing to bet that if you just fix the gaping holes in those two areas, you can recoup enough revenue to get you