Marketing Tactics

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By Dan McKone, [email protected]

More than 12.5 billion catalogs are mailed out to U.S. homes each year. But has their effectiveness waned as more customers head online? Are catalogs reliable money-makers or have they just become an inefficient necessity eating away at your bottom line? The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Canton, Mass. -- Destination XL reported disappointing financial results for the first quarter. The company’s net income fell 56% from $2.3 million in first quarter 2012 to $1 million, while same store sales grew 0.8%. Total sales also declined 2%, from $95.5 million to $93.6 million. Destination XL cited a colder-than-normal spring and a 60% drop in catalog sales as a contributor to declining quarterly performance.

Anaheim, Calif. – Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. is opening a new pop-up store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York this summer. The two-floor, 10,000-sq.-ft. shop, located at 583 Broadway, opens today and runs through Labor Day weekend.

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co.’s 175th anniversary and its Great Gatsby movie tie-in collection drove the jeweler’s better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter ended April 30, which included Valentine’s Day. 

The jeweler had worldwide net sales of $895 million, an increase of 9% from $819,170 for the same period last year. On a constant exchange rate basis that excludes the effect of translating foreign currency denominated sales into U.S. dollars, worldwide net sales increased 13% and comparable store sales rose 8%.

NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Abercrombie & Fitch shrunk its net loss during the first quarter of 2013 but still reported thin financial results. Net loss for the quarter was $7.2 million, compared to $21.3 million during the first quarter of 2012. The results missed analysts’ estimates.

Net sales dropped 9% from $921.2 million to $838.8 million. Same-store sales plummeted 17%. Direct-to-consumer sales fell 6%. U.S. same-store sales fell 14%; international comparable sales were down 16%.

FAIRFIELD, CALIF. — Jelly Belly Candy Company plans to implement front-of-package nutrition labeling on its most popular packaged products. The company will begin to roll out labeled packages on shelves this fall. 

The new front label will highlight information such as calories and fat content. By providing the information up front, Jelly Belly joins the National Confectioners Association and other manufacturers in support of adopting a method that helps consumers easily access information necessary to make decisions about their diets.

AUSTIN, Texas — RetailMeNot.com, a U.S.-based digital coupon website, has upgraded its free Android coupons app to include location-based offers for thousands of retail locations at hundreds of general shopping malls nationwide.

BATTLE CREEK — Kellogg is committing more than 640,000 servings of food to support disaster relief efforts following the devastating tornado in Moore, Okla.

The company has already dispatched four semi-trailers of Kellogg's cereals and Keebler snacks to Moore, with more planned. Feeding America is working with food banks in its network, and other relief agencies, to provide the food to families and individuals impacted by the tornado, as well as relief workers assisting the community.