ALC of New York (ALC) announced March 18 that it will take over management of the Hammacher Schlemmer file of 485,000 12-month catalog buyers from Direct Media Inc., Greenwich, CT, effective April 5.
ALC, which was formed in December as a partnership between Andy Ostroy, Donna Belardi and American List Counsel, Princeton, NJ, also will take over as the primary list broker for the cataloger of personal, home and gift merchandise from Fasano & Associates, Los Angeles. In addition, ALC manages the lists of Bullock and Jones, Silvo Home, Men’s Collections, Illuminations and, effective April 1, Sensational Beginnings.
“The business was started as an opportunity to expand primarily in the catalog marketplace,” said Ostroy, who serves with Belardi as managing partners. “Our expertise has had as a focus the catalog market. That was one of the motivations from the American List Counsel side. [Catalogs] were not an area of specialization for them.”
The Hammacher Schlemmer file includes the 90,000 gift buyers list, the 103,000 apparel and accessories list and the LifePhases enhanced file of more than 386,000 buyers. The average purchase order is $120.
“ALC presented the most unique, innovative list management plan and the most experienced, highest level team,” said Hammacher Schlemmer director of circulation and planning Cheryl Zatz of the three-month search of list firms. “The same holds true for their brokerage service.”
ALC has recently expanded its staff to 11 with the hiring of Jason Fruchtman, formerly of the Kleid Co. in list management, Charles Marro of Hugo Dunhill in compiled list sales and Peter Leunes of Andrea Rubin Marketing in list brokerage. The company also has named direct marketing and catalog consultant Bill Dean to its board of directors. Dean is president of W.A. Dean Associates, San Francisco, and publisher of The Dean Report and the Annual Catalog Survey.
