Kmart presents Martha Stewart catalog

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 12/4/2000 12:00:00 AM

TROY, MI -Last week Kmart packaged its entire Martha Stewart Everyday program into a sophisticated gift and decorating tip catalog and mailed it to millions of its best Martha Stewart shoppers.

The 28-page catalog, a first for the retailer and the Martha Stewart Everyday program, "was designed to present great gift ideas for everyone in the family, as well as organizing ideas for the holiday, food tips, and entertaining tips as well as some how-tos," said Steve Ryman, Kmart's vp, home and Martha Stewart Everyday.

As an example, the cover featured holiday stockings with the days of the special event-Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But the stockings were made from kitchen towels and the instructions on how to make them are inside on page 24. Inside visuals reflected a stylish approach to room and product design.

The Martha Stewart Baby Baby collection is featured in a spread with a decorating tip for baby's room-using Everyday Colors to paint the room.

Other hints include how to wrap a gift package and making edible cookie gift tags. In the home textiles world, Martha offers ideas for combining different items into a special gift.

"It's the first time we've put the entire brand together in a very special catalog," Ryman explained. "We're not selling product at a price but offering gift giving, entertaining and decorating help."

Throughout the catalog, especially in the home textiles items, sale prices are featured.

Kmart, Ryman noted, is able to segment its customers by product or category purchase rates based on checkout information. The mailing list for this event was developed from this information. The event also was featured on its BlueLight website.