Catalogs offer bigger picture of decor, design

Lisa Singhania, Associated Press

Monday, November 20, 2006

Open your mailbox anytime these next few weeks, and you're likely to find Christmas in many different shapes and sizes.

At Pier 1, the holidays are about shimmery grapefruit-sized ornaments in pink and red. Crate & Barrel builds a vision of antiqued candlesticks and jewel-tone glass. L.L. Bean conjures up a roaring fireplace hung with needlepoint Christmas stockings.

Almost as much an annual tradition as Jingle Bells and cookie-baking, those cheery holiday catalogs seeking to inspire impulsive, spontaneous holiday joy - spending, in other words - are actually the product of months of forethought, market research and a strong belief in the power of the printed page. Even in an Internet/Tivo/satellite TV age, a well- planned catalog can deliver a message in a way no other medium can.

"What the catalog brings to the table is the lifestyle element," says Daryle Gibbs, director of trends and product development for home goods retailer Pier 1, which began offering a holiday catalog a year ago.

"It can showcase these great looks that you've spent a year putting together in a way that you might not be able to in a store because of space or other constraints."

Catalogs are expected to drive $144.2 billion in sales in 2006, up from $134.3 billion the year before, according to the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group.

With so much at stake, the foundations for this year's crop of Christmas catalogs were laid in fall 2005. Hurricanes dominated the headlines, and YouTube wasn't quite a household name.

But that was the time when Gibbs started to see pink and red as part of the look for Pier 1's 2006 Christmas.

Gibbs and his "trend team" settled on the theme after what is an annual ritual for many retailers. They scour European trade shows for hot new products and hire color consultants to identify customer-appealing palettes. Then they analyze sales data from the most recent holiday to see what worked and how to apply it to the next holiday season.

The result this time: more of the oversized vases and other items that Pier 1 customers loved last year, but in combination with the pinks, reds and metallic tones showcased in store windows this year.

Gibbs, who already has completed most of the work for Christmas 2007 and is starting work on spring 2008, says the advance planning is tricky, but retailers know how to hedge their risks.

"What we consider trend is 10 to 15 percent of our assortment. We also have a core color palette that is not influenced by a theme or a fashion," he says.

Catalogs can bring a mood into the home in an instant. With glossier photos than Web sites can offer, a more polished layout and easy-to- read text, a good catalog can be just a plain fun read.

"One thing you can do with a catalog that you can't do online is cuddle with it," says Eugene Fram, a marketing professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology's Saunders College of Business.