True to our name it is only appropriate we capture each significant moment in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Montgomery Ward. Arguably the first mail order catalog, Montgomery Ward.com was acquired by Midwest Catalog Brands Inc., a subsidiary of The Swiss Colony Inc., from Direct Marketing Services Inc. (DMSI) for $15.5 million on August 5, 2008.
Montgomery Ward closed its catalog and retail operations in 2001 due to falling sales. DMSI purchased much of the brand’s intellectual property assets in 2001. For some time The Swiss Colony has been expanding into various segments of retail, such as fashion and home décor, a far throw from smoked meat and marzipan.
With a broader product offering and recent moves to strengthen its internet businesses, John Baumann, president of The Swiss Colony said “It is extremely difficult to grow consumer catalog businesses today. We’re finding that more consumers are using Internet search engines for shopping or are visiting name brand sites,” he said in a statement. “Although the Ward brand needs to be rebuilt, it does have strong recognition among consumers.” The acquisition also included the Charles Keath and HomeVisions catalog and Internet properties.
As of this writing the three brands are offline. A search for MontgomeryWard.com produced a rather ugly web page which said in part.
“We are in the process of moving Montgomery Ward onto a new operating platform and expect to have our new website operating soon. Your business is important to us, and we apologize for any inconvenience during this transition. In the meantime, please use the following contact information…: (a couple of email addresses guiding visitors to customer service.)
One would hope the websites will be re-launched soon; the catalog is expected to reappear in early 2009.
After reaching an all time high of $4.764 national average for the week of July 21, 2008, diesel fuel has dropped to $4.353, national average. Unfortunately, fuel surcharge rates applicable during August are based on a trailing average. Therefore UPS’s surcharge effective August 4, 2008 is 10.25% and FedEx’s is 10.25% as well through August 31, 2008. FedEx’s surcharge will rise to 10.50% for September and continue to hammer online vendors and retailers offering Free Shipping during the critical “back to school” selling period.
NEMOA’s Fall ‘08 Conference is focused on the sustainability – of our industry!
On September 17-19, some of the best thinkers in the catalog/etail world will be gathering in Burlington, Vermont. The theme of NEMOA’s Fall ‘08 Conference is “Growing Green”.
On Wednesday and Thursday, industry leaders will present best practices for ways to grow a business, stay green, and stay profitable.
On Friday, NEMOA’s “Virtual Tour” features six Internet experts, including Rick Klau from Google, who will walk NEMOA attendees through best practices in redesign, SEO, email marketing, RSS, web analytics, and paid search
Conference details and registration information are available on line at www.nemoa.org. Save with early-bird registration, extended till 8/25/08.
Celebrate Express was sold to holding company Liberty Media for $31 million in cash, or $3.90 per share. Having been approved by the boards of both companies, the deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Liberty Interactive has ownership interests in QVC.com, Expedia and IAC/InterActive Corp and plans to merge Celebrate Express into BUYSEASONS, Inc. the internet costume and party retailer founded in 1999 and acquired by Liberty Media in 2006.
The company was founded in 1994 by Mike and Jan Jewell as Birthday Express, a catalog retailer of party supplies. It launched CelebrateExpress.com two years later. The company went public in late 2004. On its first day of trading under the Nasdaq symbol “BDAY,” shares reached as high as $17.50, before settling down slightly to close at $16.70. . In fiscal 2005 annual sales were $69.1 million and in fiscal 2006 were approximately $86 million. Other titles over the years were Costume Express and Storybook Heirlooms catalogs. Mr. Jewell resigned in 2006. Over the past year shares of Celebrate Express have traded between $2.19 and $10.70. On the day the deal with Liberty was first announced shares of Celebrate Express jumped 70%, from $2.30 to $3.90.
Depending upon when you bought stock in Celebrate Express you can celebrate and dance to the music, or put on your Joker costumer.
