After debuting on the list market in summer 2002, Brylane Home Kitchen posted impressive list growth through the fourth quarter of 2003, more than doubling its size from the same time the prior year, according to an industry list universe study.
List brokerage ParadyszMatera maintains a database of 12-month list universe counts on more than 73,000 list properties through its research division. The firm ranks the top 40 catalogs by largest percentage increase in the home, apparel and gifts/collectibles categories quarterly as compared with the year-ago quarter. ParadyszMatera generates its MarketTrends consumer catalog reports quarterly through its proprietary Market Relevance direct mail promotion-tracking tool.
According to the Q4 2003 MarketTrends report, Brylane Home Kitchen topped the home category. The file was up 209.5 percent to 382,903 names for the quarter, from 123,700 in Q4 2002.
“It's an up-and-coming list,” said Linda Thompson, vice president, sales in the list management division at Millard Group Inc., Peterborough, NH. “They are still in a growth mode and mailing very aggressively to try to build the file. The book is doing well.”
Millard started managing the files from Brylane Lifestyles Group, which is the Brylane Inc. unit that consists of Brylane Home Kitchen, Brylane Home and Brylane Home Wishes catalogs, in July 2003, she added. At that time, the Brylane Home Kitchen file had roughly the same number of 12-month names as in Q4 2002.
The Brylane Home Kitchen file is 98 percent female with an average age of 50, average income of $50,000 and average unit of sale of $60.
Though Brylane Home Kitchen was the file with the most growth in Q4 2003, the largest overall file in the home category's top 40 was sister catalog Brylane Home. It ranked 19th among increases with 1.1 million names for Q4 2003, which was a 16.1 percent rise over the previous year.
In the gifts/collectibles category, Tiffany and Co. made the biggest gain in its house file among mailers in Q4 2003. The file grew 182.6 percent to 451,232 names, up from 159,682.
The Tiffany and Co. file is 65 percent female with an average age range of 40-45, average income of $75,000+ and average unit of sale of $175.
The largest overall file in gifts/collectibles for Q4 2003 was Collections Etc. It ranked 30th among increases with 1.6 million last-12-month names, up 14.9 percent from Q4 2002.
The biggest list universe growth in apparel and the largest percentage increase across all categories was Kenneth Cole New York, with a 403.5 percent increase for Q4 2003 over the same quarter in 2002. The file went from 10,479 to 52,763 names.
The Kenneth Cole New York file is 75 percent female with an average age range of 25-40 and average unit of sale of $175.
The largest overall file in the apparel category for Q4 2003 was JC Penney Women's Apparel and Accessories Buyers. It ranked 29th among increases with 2.7 million last-12-month names, up 16.4 percent from 4Q 2002.
Mokrynski & Associates, Hackensack, NJ, manages the Tiffany and Kenneth Cole files.
Though he could not comment specifically on the strategies of either mailer, Steve Tamke, senior vice president at Mokrynski, offered general insight into the growth of these files.
“They have been prudent with their circulation, seizing opportunities where they exist and pulling back where it's appropriate,” he said. “The Internet has also factored in strongly.”
He confirmed that both saw increased numbers of new customers coming via the Internet.
“Luxury mailers overall have been doing well,” Tamke said. Luxury stores were the best-performing retail stores in the holiday season, so this follows, he added.
Tamke also credited each marketer's disciplined approach to their merchandise collections.
Additional information on ParadyszMatera and its MarketRelevance tool can be obtained at www.paradyszmatera.com.
