Oriental Trading Company

Sam Taylor, who as CEO guided Oriental Trading Company from bankruptcy into one of Berkshire Hathaway’s success stories, died on Dec. 29 more than a year after being diagnosed with a lethal form of brain cancer. He was 56. Oriental Trading released a statement that read in part, "Sam was so completely woven into the threads…

Catalogers’ Updates • Gander Mountain: Twelve years since it last mailed a catalog, this hunting, fishing, outdoor apparel, and lifestyle products and services marketer has returned to the catalog industry. In late April, Gander mailed a 324-page catalog from its Overton’s subsidiary containing products from Overton’s, Gander Mountain and others to more than 2 million customers. Plans call for catalogs carrying exclusively Gander Mountain products to be mailed later this year. The company also expects to convert its informational Web site into a transactional one later this year. • Dell: The personal computer marketer continued its recent cost-cutting initiative by laying off 250 workers

Finding your best customers with the right kinds of data The tumultuous growth of the Internet has shown that catalogers that traditionally relied solely on print media now have new ways of reaching customers and prospects. However, anything new requires some degree of change: The world of the Web caters to customers' whims and offers to satisfy those desires on demand. That means now is the time for catalog companies to get sophisticated about what they sell and to whom. Can you leverage the information in your database to provide customers with more of the products they want at the right times? What about