(Catalog Age) Less than two years after acquiring nautical home products and gifts catalog Waterfront Living, Norm Thompson Outfitters has put the book on hold.
The Hillsboro, OR-based company isn’t planning to shelve the catalog entirely. But it did not mail a holiday edition of Waterfront Living, and it is not sure when it will send another edition.
Instead, the firm is trying to figure out how the title fits into its overall corporate strategy, said Craig Dewey, Norm Thomson's senior vice president of catalog brands. "We need to determine how we will devote resources to it."
As a lifestyle book appealing to consumers who love the water, Waterfront Living occupies a different niche than Norm Thompson’s other catalogs. These include apparel book Early Winters and home products catalog Solutions.
"We didn't have this exact type of catalog in our family before," Dewey said.
Norm Thompson mailed a redesigned version of Waterfront Living in August 2002. The catalog featured indoor and outdoor settings as backdrops.
But although the results from that mailing were better than expected, the company had already decided not to mail Waterfront Living during the holiday season, according to Dewey.
Meanwhile, Norm Thompson is assessing the merchandise assortment for the next edition, which may mail in the spring or the summer.
"Likely, when we relaunch, we'll continue with five mailings a year," Dewey said. That is the same frequency the catalog had when Norm Thompson acquired it.
Dewey added, "We don't see it increasing its circulation much until we've really proven the concept and made sure it's financially viable before we start filling up other mail dates."
