Gander Re-Enters Cataloging With Multi-Million-Piece Drop

Gander Mountain has begun mailing around 1 million catalogs to existing customers and requesters in a move to get back in the business after a 12 year absence.

Spokesman David Ewald, said the St. Paul, MN company hopes to make the catalog part of a three-pronged marketing strategy along with the Internet and stores.

The fall 2008 catalog will enable the firm sell in all 50 states, not just the 23 states in which its 115 retail stores are located, he noted.

Ewald declined to predict what frequency the new catalog would have.

Gander was allowed to re-enter the catalog business after a federal judge last summer reversed an Aug. 2005 ruling in favor of the sporting goods retailer, giving it the legal right to use its logo and name in all direct marketing channels, including catalogs and e-commerce (Direct Newsline, July 12, 2007).

Gander had sold its direct business to Cabela's in 1996 for $35 million and lost the right to use its own brand or logo in direct marketing in 2005 after a two-year legal battle with rival Cabela's. Lawsuits filed in 2003 claimed violated its sales agreement by selling shotgun barrels on its Web site. Gander claimed the agreement wasn't meant to give Cabela's permanent control over its direct marketing.

The previous ruling gave Gander the right to enter direct marketing, but usage of the logo and name was unclear. The decision ultimately meant it would need to establish a different brand -- something company said it didn't want to try.