Franklin Mint Finished With Catalogs
(Catalog Age) After considerably expanding its catalog business in recent years, the Franklin Mint is scaling back on its entire operation. On Nov. 12, about 200 employees of the Middletown, PA-based collectibles marketer/manufacturer were told by management that they would be laid off over the next four to five months as part of a major restructuring. A source close to company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Catalog Age that Franklin Mint will cease mailing catalogs.
Franklin Mint spokesperson Howard Lucker would only say that “the broader catalogs may not mail in the future.” The company, which will drop 30 million catalogs this year, mails eight titles, with product lines ranging from dolls and jewelry to Harley-Davidson memorabilia and Americana. “The biggest problem we had was not getting the new collectors into the fold,” Lucker said. “The current business model is not working.”
According to the source, one problem with its business model was that Franklin Mint spent too much on acquiring customers via space ads. And when the company started ramping up its catalog business in the mid-‘90s, it didn’t help that the collectibles customers didn’t necessarily convert to gift buyers. “The plan was always to sell consumers a commemorative plate for $29.95, then get them to buy a $195 sculpture of Marilyn Monroe or Jackie Onassis,” the source says. “It just never worked.”
The source claims that the company expects to lose about $8 million-$12 million in 2003, and that it lost close to $1 million in 2002. In 2000, Franklin Mint generated about $300 million in sales — about $100 million of which were from catalogs, says the source.
Lucker would not comment on Franklin Mint’s financials. He says that the company will continue as a smaller business concentrating on die-cast cars and airplanes, precision modeling, as well as Harley-Davidson branded products which will be distributed via wholesale and the Internet.
Franklin Mint was founded in 1963 by Joel Segal, who later founded the QVC shopping network. The current owners, Stewart and Linda Rae Resnick, bought the company in 1985.
