PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – A big postal rate increase over the summer hasn’t stopped catalog retailers from stuffing mailboxes this holiday season.
The U.S. Postal Service says more than 300 million catalogs flooded into people’s mailboxes last month, and the overall number of catalogs has grown 12% over last year, officials said.
The boost continues a positive trend for catalogers that are defying those who predicted their demise in a digital world.
“The industry is not dying. There are plenty of companies that are still aggressively mailing catalogs,” said Paul Miller, vice president and deputy director of the American Catalog Mailers Association.
Some online retailers like Bonobos, Amazon and Wayfair began mailing catalogs in recent years. A few that went away, like the Sharper Image and J. Peterman, have returned. Heavyweights like Lands’ End, Hammacher Schlemmer and L.L. Bean never wavered.