Williams-Sonoma Trims Catalog Pages and Circulation

New York City Williams-Sonoma Inc. has scaled back the size of its catalogs by nearly a third while winnowing down the number of consumers across the country who receive the publications, according to the Associated Press.

Speaking at an investor conference on Tuesday, the company said it cut the circulation of its catalogs by about 25% while reducing the number of pages by 31%.

We know that the pages we would have mailed would not have yielded a profitable return," said Patrick Connolly, executive VP and chief marketing officer, at the Thomas Weisel Partners Consumer Conference in New York.

The moves have helped the retailer shave up to $40 million off its advertising costs as it tries to better focus its marketing efforts on customers who are still buying home-furnishing items amid a weakening economy, executives said.

Connolly also said the nation's retail environment is the worst in 30 years, particularly in areas where the housing market has suffered the most.