Mrs. Fields Original Cookies

Headquarters: Salt Lake City Year founded: 1988 Merchandise: Cookies and other baked goods Average order size: $100 Annual sales: $30 million (catalog/online only) Mailings per year: 12 Retail stores: 470 # of SKUs: 500 # of employees: 100 full-time, increases to 500 with seasonal workers Customer demographics: Upscale women giving to men; office managers and executive assistants in companies who give gifts on behalf of their teams 12-month housefile: 180,000 Printer: Quebecor World List manager: D-J Associates

As a veteran of the catalog industry, Mrs. Fields Gifts President Greg Berglund has witnessed the ever-changing environment catalogers operate in. He offers opinions on several topics, including where he sees the catalog/multichannel business heading in the near future, as well as tips for those trying to thrive, survive and more. Catalog Success: What methods of customer acquisition (industry-wide) will be most relevant in the coming years? Greg Berglund: I’m concerned about the trend in the industry where more and more customers are being acquired using online methods compared to traditional direct marketing methods. The lifetime value of online-acquired people tends to be

The exterior view portrayed a strong, stable company — a well-oiled machine churning along toward future profits and continued success. The interior showed an entirely different story — a company crumbling just like one of its cookies. Mrs. Fields’ early success actually led to the downturn of its catalog direct/online unit. With that early success and rapid growth, Mrs. Fields didn’t invest properly in the infrastructure (marketing database, systems, tracking) of the direct division, says Greg Berglund, president of Salt Lake City-based Mrs. Fields Gifts. What’s more, the company failed to keep product offerings fresh and relevant, especially the refreshing of photography and item

A true story: This past Sunday I decided to order a Christmas gift for our friends Doris and David and another for my cousin Suzy — ideally the same gift for both, something foodie and festive. I went to the following Web sites: Swiss Colony, The Wisconsin Cheeseman, Hickory Farms, Red Cooper, Fortnum & Mason, Amazon.com, See’s Candies, Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., Jelly Belly, Mrs. Field’s Gifts, Figi’s, Dean & DeLuca, Cross Creek Groves, Godiva Chocolatier, and Harry & David. All were happy to take my order for two of the same item. I could not for the life of me figure out how to