While BIG Box Stores Suffer, Catalogs Sure Haven't

     

     Mail order catalogs seem to have been an American invention. The first general mail catalog is the Montgomery Ward catalog that was produced on August 18, 1872. And while many businesses were already publishing mail order catalogs, it was Aaron Montgomery Ward that is credited for producing the first mail order catalog meant for the national general public. It wasn't long though before Sears & Roebuck produced their own, a venerable institution until it's demise.

     Sears & Roebuck originally started in 1886 as a watch mail order company in 1886. Their first mail catalog was in 1888, a good 12 years after Wards. However, when rural delivery became free in 1896, Sears, Wards and other vendor's catalog mailing exploded. I can remember as a kid in the 1950's waiting for the Sears Christmas catalog. If you're a Boomer or earlier you know exactly what I mean. Kids today really do miss out.

     As a marketing and advertising major in Journalism School our director said that the only books we needed were ... the Bible, The Works of Shakespeare AND the Sears catalog. All three, he said, told complete stories in as few words as necessary. If you ever read a Sears catalog, despite 1,000's of items, after looking at the photo and reading the description you had NO doubt what the item was, how it looked and what it could do usually in 100 words or less. I can think of many web sites that could learn or lesson or two from this! While the Sears catalog ceased publication in 1993 (you can just about see the beginning of it's demise about that time. The biggest retailer started to fail as Walmart became the biggest retailer), its lessons seem to have been remembered. 

Christmas catalogs received

in ONE week last November!

     While big box stores, Kmart, Sear, Macy's, Penney's, Forever 21 and many more are closing stores or declaring bankruptcies, never to be seen again, if anything, I am getting more catalogs than ever before. Internet sales may be booming, but so are catalogs! What's even more interesting is that while you often see things you would never find in a store, often they are also available at such sites as Amazon who sells that item cheaper and if a Prime member, with free shipping! Yet, they keep coming!!!

     You have to wonder, what and why? If you were to design a "comfort" food or item, nothing beats a casual stroll through pages ... printed or digital, in the comfort of your home. You also find things that while available online, you might never have been aware of until you saw it in a catalog. It can be trying to find things on Amazon. Here in your lap is the thing you were looking for, looking back at you on the printed page!

Catalogs received this week!

  Shopping today is such a miserable hassle. Depending on where you live, if you are single, married or married with children you have to get everyone dressed in something, then go to the car, load everyone in after making sure all windows, doors, lights and appliances are turned off, doors locked, then driving to the mall which once took 10 minutes but today can be an hours long trip. You arrive mad at the stupid drivers, the kids bickering in the back seat, a disagreement with the spouse of where you will go once there ... the "purpose" of the trip, then finding a place to park and depending on the weather slogging to the entrance. As if to add insult to injury, you also take a quick glance around to see where to hide if some crazed gunman wants to add a sense of adventure to your shopping chores.  And worse, if you live in California you have to bring your own bag or be charged for everyone you get from the seller. So the back of my SUV has a bundle of bags that I somehow manage to forget every time I go to the store or mall! Need a bag?

     WHY do that? Stay home, leaf through your catalogs, fill out the order form, put a stamp on it, put it in the mailbox and take a nap.

     Rather than adding stress to our lives, we can relax and depending, wait to receive our package. I am sure that's why such sites as Wayfair, Overstocck.com and just about every catalog out there also send you emails to order online. They are covering their bases and audience. At 74 I find that I like holding the catalog and reading the pages rather than looking at a screen that makes it difficult to flip back and forth between items. I have yet to find any digital store's pages that equals the same experience as a printed catalog. Maybe digital takes a certain age to use. Yet, those catalogs keep coming so someone, somewhere is still ordering from them!

    

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!