List Managers George-Mann, TCI Direct Shut Down

List manager George-Mann Associates Inc. has closed after company president Rick Rohrer passed away June 23.

The Charlotte, NC-based company supposedly shut down Aug. 7 after Mr. Rohrer's widow decided against continuing the business.

Brothers George and Manny Sharoff founded George-Mann in 1966 as a list management firm.

The company until recently was based in Freehold, NJ. During the past six years, it won management duties for catalog files like Sarabeth's Kitchen, The Great Valley Mills, Figures Inc. Wrestling Superstore and Shoe Express.

George-Mann added a business-to-business list management unit in 2000.

It is believed that George-Mann owes money to some list-owner clients.

George-Mann is the second list manager to close in the past few months.

TCI Direct, a Toluca Lake, CA-based list brokerage and management firm, recently went out of business after company president James Thulin was sentenced to three years in prison for assault and burglary.

The list industry also suffered another blow with a critical article Aug. 27 in The New York Times against infoUSA Inc. chairman/CEO Vinod Gupta.