Sears, Roebuck & Co.

During a session at the recent NEMOA conference in Cambridge, Mass., George Isaacson and Martin Eisenstein, both attorneys from the Lewiston, Maine-based law firm Brann & Isaacson LLP, pointed out that such recent changes as the shift of power in the House and Senate to Democratic control could revive the use-tax debate. They also touched on some key legal issues involving the rapidly growing gift card market. During his presentation, Isaacson said that there are several dynamics in play this year that make the federal use-tax issue less predictable than it’s been in the past. “Every year since Quill Corp. v. North Dakota,” he said

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Catalog Success: The Corner View. Coming to you directly from the keyboard of Catalog Success editor in chief Paul Miller, this fortnightly e-newsletter will reach your inbox every other Friday. In all of our channels — the monthly print magazine, the weekly Idea Factory e-newsletter and our daily Web site — Catalog Success’ mantra is to provide you with moneymaking ideas that can help you run your catalog/multichannel business better. Always on the lookout for new products that we can offer our readers, we bring you this executive report with analysis and reflections on the catalog/multichannel business, specifically targeted

Interview by Matt Griffin © Profile of Success, Catalog Success magazine, September 2006 Catalog Success: When was the catalog established? Eduard Bjorncrantz: Well, the history goes back to Dorney Printing, which started in 1938. Bob and Bill Dorney were two guys who worked in the business, and they started a mail-order branch of the business selling birthday calendars. In 1942, Dorney Printing was registered as a business, but the Day-Timer business started with a man named Morris Perkin. He was an attorney who invented Lawyer’s Day, which was an appointment, calendar, scheduling, and to-do list system. In 1952, he brought Lawyer’s Day to

Through countless catalog experiences, Ed Bjorncrantz’s passion for growth and the catalog business never has ebbed. How he got involved in cataloging: After attending Colgate University, C. Eduard Bjorncrantz was hired to run the catalog sales office for the Arlington, Va., Sears store. He later left the post to get his MBA at the University of Virginia, after which he went back to work for Sears in its Chicago offices in a product management program. Among other assignments, Bjorncrantz was appointed assistant catalog marketing manager for bedspreads and draperies — then the largest catalog division in the company. Following assignments in retail marketing and

The Web site of multichannel hunting and fishing merchant Cabela’s provides the best foundational customer experience, according to Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group’s benchmark study on enhanced customer experiences. Cisco’s definition of foundational capabilities includes ease of use, some personalization, free content, and secure, reliable transactional processes. The study benchmarked 20 major merchandise Web sites, and rated the buyer’s experience throughout the entire shopping lifecycle. The top five online retailing sites in foundational capabilities according to Cisco: 1. Cabela’s 2. Best Buy 3. Amazon.com 4. Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) 5. Sears Other data revealed om Cisco’s study: * 81 percent of those sites surveyed

Your Web site plays a crucial role in tying together all of your marketing channels. In fact, consumers cite company Web sites and third-party retail sites as being the most influential factor in seven out of 10 product categories as a source of further learning in their decision-making processes leading to purchase, according to a recent survey by DoubleClick. What are some ways you can leverage your Web site to increase conversions both online and off? Chris Shimojima, vice president of customer marketing at Sears Direct, shared some of his strategies on integrating the Web with your other channels in his session “Creating a Best-in-Class

In the wake of Kmart’s recent merger with Sears, we thought you’d enjoy this nostalgic look back at what it was like to work for a catalog pioneer during its heyday. —Editors As American business was getting back on its feet after World War II, I entered a career adventure with one of the world’s largest catalogers, Sears, Roebuck and Co. Since all my associates in 1948 were more than twice as old as I, that means I’m the last survivor of the company’s catalog creative division from that era. Here’s a look back at what catalog creation was like in

By now no doubt you’ve heard Kmart is acquiring the venerable catalog merchant Sears, Roebuck and Co. My first thoughts were of our friends at Lands’ End, which is owned by Sears. How will this affect them? I mean, they’re being bought by Kmart, a company that — OK, let’s face it — doesn’t have a particularly strong brand image. With all due respect to Edward Lampert, Kmart’s chairman and soon to be chairman of Sears Holdings, the last time I ducked into a Kmart store for some bath soap and laundry detergent, I swore I’d never set foot in another one. The

While in the library doing research for a graduate course in marketing, I analyzed some catalogs such as Spiegel, Lands’ End, and Smith & Noble. Then I came across two old Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs published in 1897 and 1908. At first, I read the Sears books only out of curiosity. The catalogs ran to almost 1,200 pages and included a seemingly endless selection of food, clothing and machines. The company sold more than 100,000 items at the time, consistent with its tag line, “We Sell Everything.” Indeed, the cataloger even sold kit homes, and customers could furnish those homes with kitchen

The executives at Sears were busy last month. First, they bought controlling interest in Lands’ End—news that sent shock waves through the retail industry. Seems that Sears is shelling out $1.9 billion undoubtedly in an attempt to capture the cataloger’s younger, more upscale customers. The move also catapults Sears back into the U.S. catalog business, an industry that the retailer pioneered before scrapping its Big Book back in the 1990s. The benefit to Lands’ End, of course, is that it instantly gets a nationwide, brick-and-mortar presence for its branded products. Sears’ officials said the deal effectively puts Lands’ End’s merchandise within 75 miles